


Steam Will Rise

by AddictedToTheWrittenWord



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AtLA, F/M, Zutara, Zutara Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2020-08-23 18:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 48,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20247670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AddictedToTheWrittenWord/pseuds/AddictedToTheWrittenWord
Summary: Southern Water Tribe princess Katara is arranged to be married to Hahn, the arrogant Prince of the Northern Water Tribe, but after negotiations break down over women's rights to become waterbenders the marriage contract is broken. Angry over the loss of the financial gain Hahn's father, Chief Pakku, orders the Northern Water Tribe's Navy to cut off the Southern Water Tribe's main trade routes. Over the years Pakku's tactics take their toll on the Southern Water Tribe leaving them desolate without enough food or medicine to sustain the village. In a desperate bid to save his people Chief Hakoda negotiates an uneasy marriage alliance with their one time enemies, the Fire Nation.Funding a war for 100 years has nearly bankrupted the Fire Nation forcing regent Fire Lord Iroh to agree to the marriage alliance between his nephew the future Fire Lord and the Water Tribe Princess, but the still embittered North will do anything in their power stop the alliance from happening and attacks the young newlyweds on their maiden voyage from Hira'a to the Fire Nation. Without the support of their friends, family, or countries Zuko and Katara must now survive the North's onslaught and each other.





	1. Gifts

“Close the blanket up Katara you're letting all the warm air out.”

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother as she pulled the elk-deer skinned blanket closer around the both of them. It would do little in making them feel warmer but if Sokka thought it would she supposed it was worth the effort. It took her a few tries to pull the blanket completely closed because her fingers were numb and stiff with cold. Even huddled before the small fire in the hearth and buried beneath several layers of blankets Katara still shivered and her teeth chatted. The frigid cold of the outside invaded their home like an unwanted guest who came to visit and didn't know when to leave. A frigidness that she'd been living with for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like not to have a constant chill in her bones.

Her house was never warm enough because there wasn't enough wood in the hearth to create a fire big enough to warm the entire house, and there wasn't enough wood in her town to warm her house or any of the houses in the town. There wasn't enough food for the town either.

Katara watched as her Gran gran scraped the bottom of the kettle making sure that there wasn't an ounce of stewed sea prunes wasted. Katara had checked the barrel of sea prunes earlier that day and it had been dangerously low so low in fact that she was sure that the last of the sea prunes is what her Gran gran was now trying to even out into four bowls for their dinner.

“These lean days are lasting far longer than I ever thought they would.” Her Gran gran said to her father.

“I didn't think it would last this long either, but we don't have the power to contend with the North's blockade and we don't have an ally to help us fight them. I tried to get help from the Earth Kingdom, but you know it's their policy not to involve themselves in other people's wars. There's the Fire Nation, but there a long shot and a last hope.”

“Why would they ever help us?” Gran gran asked.

“They could use the money and their reputation could use a reboot,” Her father confessed.

“A last hope is better than no hope at all. If we can't get any supplies brought in soon I'm afraid the entire town will-.” She stopped talking when she saw that Katara and her brother were watching her from the other side of the room.

“What will happen to our town?” Sokka asked.

“Nothing darling. It will be O.K. we'll be just fine.”

That was a lie and Katara knew it. All over the town people were weak, hungry, and sick. They neither had the food or the medicines to make them well. She was only starting her training as a healer and did what she could to keep every villager healthy, but she couldn't help everyone and people died. Sometimes they died in her arms. She shivered beneath the myriad of blankets as the phantom pain of feeling a townie dying as she held them in her arms passed through her like a ghost.

After the last of the stew had been doled out her Gran gran crossed the room and set the bowls down on the small kitchen table they brought into the living room. They had taken to eating in the living room around the hearth since there wasn't enough wood for the wood burning stove in the kitchen.

“Make sure you eat it all.”

“Give my portion to Sokka and Katara.” Her father said. “I'm not hungry.”

Another lie. Katara knew her father was hungry but once again was going without to ensure that she and Sokka had enough to eat.

“If you're sure.”

“I am.”

Katara hated that her father had to do that. She hated the way they had to count everything. She hated the way they had to stretch, cut back, or go without. School had been canceled indefinitely because there wasn't enough wood or food. Shops were closed. There were no more festivals in the town square. The only time people did gather in town was to stand in the breadline or bury one of their dead loved ones. If she could she would do anything to end the suffering of her people. Anything.

**Six years later**

  
Katara looked down at the bowl of stewed sea prunes that her Gran gran had perfectly prepared for her, and though it was one of her favorite meals she couldn't bring herself to eat a single bite. The meal only served to remind her of everything that she would be leaving behind. When she looked up from her bowl of stew and saw her family looking at her as if they were trying to remember every single detail of her face she felt like crying, but she knew once she did she would never stop. She did not want her last meal at home to be a sad affair she wanted it to be happy, but it was too bad that no one told her heart that.

How did you say goodbye to a place where you resided for most of your sixteen years on earth? All she knew was the South Pole, and now she was being forced to give that up and move half way across the world to live in the Fire Nation to be married to a boy she hardly knew. Everyone she did know and love would be left behind in the South Pole. Their lives would go on in the same way it always had and despite everyone telling her they would keep in touch she knew that eventually they wouldn't. The letters would stop coming the visits would become fewer and further in between until eventually they all forgot about her.

Katara shook her head. No, she decided at that moment, no they would not forget her she wouldn't let them. No matter how far away from home she was, she was still Southern Water Tribe born and raised and nothing and no one could change that. She loved her family more than she loved herself and nothing could wipe the memory of them from her mind, and she wouldn't allow anything to wipe her from their memories either. She picked up her spoon and dipped it into the bowl of stew and took a slow sip. It was perfect that first spoonful of stew was always perfect. She smiled and looked around the kitchen studying it for one last time though she knew the layout with her eyes closed.

The huge wood burning stove sat in the corner warming the entire kitchen. It hadn't been used in years but for her last meal at home her father had made an exception.The stove was a pain in the butt to polish, but the perfect place to curl up next to with a good book. The floors were made out of sea stones that felt smooth as silk under bare feet and kept the heat within them. Her grandfather had made the kitchen table out of one of his old boats blue and silver threads from the wood of the tundra ash tree ran naturally through the wood. Above the table was the whale bone and elk-deer skin chandelier that her father had made. There were the marks on the wall that measured her and her brother's height as they'd grown over the years. Her mother had started making the marks and when she died her Gran gran had taken over making them.

She did not regret what she had to do. The alternative to not marrying Prince Zuko was to damn her town to death by sickness or starvation. The idea that she could save her town from the misery that had befallen them for the last few years gave her hope and it gave hope to everyone in her town. Hope washed away the helpless feeling that had taken up residence in her soul and gave way to a feeling of strength. Her people needed her and she would never turn her back on them or anyone else who needed her, but at the same time she felt like she was turning her back on her family and her culture. The Fire Nation was no longer the Southern Water Tribe's enemy, but Katara couldn't forget what years of war had done to her or her people.

Her grandfather, Natsilane, had died fighting in the 100 year war the same war that had taken the life of her mother and now she was to marry a Fire Lord of the very people that had started the war and caused her family so much pain. If her mother knew it would break her heart. If her grandfather knew he'd break Zuko's neck. As it was the Fire Nation were the only ones who could save her people from civil war. There was an irony there that she just couldn't appreciate.

No matter how strong her memories were she couldn't afford to have regrets about what she had to do. The alternative to not marrying Prince Zuko was to damn her town to death by sickness or starvation. The idea that she could save her town from the misery that had befallen them for the last few years gave her hope and it gave hope to every one in her town. Hope washed away the helpless feeling that had taken up residence in her soul and gave way to a feeling of strength. Her people needed her and she would never turn her back on them or anyone else who needed her, but at the same time she felt like she was turning her back on her family and her culture. 

"The one thing you must remember above all else Katara, her father began, is that the Fire Nation's customs are nothing like that of the Southern Water tribe's. The Fire Nation is a country steeped in traditions that are much more rigid than what you are used to, because of that rigidity they are not so good at embracing ways that aren't their own." Ever since she learned that she was to marry Prince Zuko and move to the Fire Nation her father had been lecturing her in great detail about the country.

Katara was listening to her Father but the words he was speaking didn't seem real. It was like she was living in a dream or a nightmare she wasn't sure which. All she could think of was by how this time tomorrow she would be married. There was a time in her life when she was upset that she didn't have a boyfriend, and it felt like she never would, but now she had a husband. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't wrap her head around it.

"The royal court will expect you to become fully Fire Nation. To adopt all of their ways and forget your own, but you must never forget where you come from. You must never forget who you are. Always be proud to be of the Southern Water Tribe, always."

"Yes Dad."

"Our people have a deep seeded sense of community and spirituality. Her Gran gran said taking over where her father had left off. They were like a lecturing tag team. It's something that the Fire Nation knows nothing about, but it's something they could use a lot of. It's what you can bring to them. Never forget for a moment that your husband will need you as much as you'll need him."

"But what if Zuko and I hate each other?" Part of her did hate him whether she should or not. Maybe he hadn't attacked her village but his grandfather had and because of his grandfather her mother was dead. No amount of protecting her from the Northern Water Tribe could change that.

"I know this is scary snow angel, but I wouldn't have agreed with your father about the marriage if I thought for one moment you wouldn't be safe or if Prince Zuko wasn't a good match for you. I had the chance to talk with prince Zuko's uncle, General Iroh, and his nephew is a fine young man. Besides there's not a person alive who won't love you once they get to know you."

Katara wished that she had an ounce of her Gran gran's confidence, but the truth was she was terrified. There was so much hinging on her marriage to the future Fire Lord Zuko, but what if she couldn't learn to love him? What if he couldn't love her or they never learned to love one another? Was she really strong enough to live the rest of her life in a loveless marriage?

"Katara, you O.K.?" Her brother asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied. Sokka had been unusually quiet all through dinner. He hadn't given his opinion about her up and coming nuptials which was odd for him. Sokka had a strong opinion about everything. It was one of the things that drove Katara crazy about him, but now that she knew she wasn't going to hear his voice everyday it was suddenly the most precious sound in the world to her.

"I'll visit you a soon as I can. You know that don't you?"

Katara nodded.

"And if you look like you're even the tiniest bit unhappy I'll harpoon that fire breathing jerk in his ass."

Katara giggled. Leave it to her brother to always make her laugh.

After dinner Katara helped her Gran gran wash the dinner dishes even though she'd been excused from the chore.

"I want to wash the dishes. It's the last time I'll get to." She bent out soap and water onto the dishes and swirled it around vigorously. "Besides I don't have anything else to do. My luggage was packed months ago and there's no sense in writing another letter to Zuko when I'll see him tomorrow."

“How were the prince's letters?” Her Gran gran asked.

“Concise. I guess he's not much for words written or otherwise.” Katara was only fourteen years old when the marriage contract, known as the Steam Alliance, became official and the two had been writing to each other ever since.

“Well at least he's good looking.”

“Good looks don't mean a thing if he has a horrible attitude.”

“From everything your father says he's a nice young boy.”

Katara placed the last of the washed dishes in the draining rack normally she would just bend the water from the dishes but this evening she couldn't be bothered to. Instead she leaned against the counter to engage in some reflective thinking, but the reflective thoughts just weren't coming being inside with all of these memories crowded out any thoughts that entered her brain.

“I think I'll go for a walk." she said.

“Be careful out there.”

“I will Gran gran.” She Kissed her on the cheek.

In her room she quickly dressed in the many layers needed to go outside. She pulled on her kamikluuk and shoved her feet in her fur lined tuttiluk and buttoned up her atigi and headed outside. It was already dark as jet outside but if she looked up she could see millions of stars shining brightly in the sky. The cold and crisp air made Katara feel alive and alert. The snow made the most wonderful crunching sound under her tuttiluk. It was times like these that she couldn't imagine anywhere else in the world being as beautiful as the South Pole. There wouldn't be the hauntingly beautiful still silence that was only heard in a country filled with snow. Nor would she be able to see the aurora borealis and all the wonder it brought. It was like having an art gallery in your own backyard.

She stopped walking when she came upon a circle of rocks with a bigger rock in the center. Her mother's grave. It was one of the things she would miss most of all. While it was true that she could speak to her mother wherever she was in the world she always felt the strongest connection to her mother whenever she visited her grave. The rocks were covered with snow but Katara bent the snow away.

"Hi aaga." She said into the darkness of the evening. Her breath fogged out in front of her like a spirit being released into the night. "I came to tell you I'm getting married. His name is Zuko, and he's from the Fire Nation, and one day he'll be Fire Lord which means I'll be a Fire Lady. I hope you're not mad at me. If there was any other way I wouldn't be marrying him, but so much has changed since you left the world.”

Not left the world Katara thought bitterly; taken from the world. Stolen from her family. Despite the cold outside Katara's cheeks burned hot with anger. She could picture the monster who took her mother's life so clearly in her mind. Now that she was going to the Fire Nation there was a good chance that she might run into him and he'd better pray to the Spirits that she would be feeling merciful on that day. She turned her eyes back towards her mother's grave. Now was not the time to lose herself in thoughts of violence and vengeance.

“We're in a civil war with the Northern Water Tribe. I was supposed to marry Prince Hahn, but in order to do that I would have to give up my bending and I can't do that. You died because of my bending and giving it up would be worse than marrying a firebender, especially after all the work I did to become a master. I did it mostly for you aaga so you won't have died in vain. I'm going to avenge your death. I swear to you I'm going to find the man who took you from me aaga, and when I do I'm going to make sure he knows what it means to be a Southern waterbender."

Tears fell from Katara's eyes and froze on their way down her cheeks. "I'm sorry aaga. I know I should let go of this anger but I can't.” She knelt down next to her mother's grave rubbed her gloved hands back and forth on her mother's headstone until it felt warm and then she rested her cheek against it.“Dad was the one who arranged the marriage and I trust dad so I guess I'll have to trust that he's right about what kind of person Zuko is. He'd never let anything bad happened to me and he never wanted anything bad to happen to you. He still tears himself up inside about not being able to save you in time, and if I'm being honest I do too."

Logically Katara knew that she was just a child and that even if she had arrived to their home in time there was nothing she could have done to save her mother, but in her heart and in her soul there would always be a part of her that felt guilty. She supposed it was why now she always felt the need to help others. If she could prevent tragedies from happening even before they started that meant saving her life wasn't a mistake and that she was good for something other than causing the people she loved pain.

"I love you mom and no matter where I am in the world you'll always be in my heart." She closed her hand around her mother's necklace. At least she'd have that with her when she went to the Fire Nation. It was just a small memento but it was the only physical reminder that she had left of her mother. She bent the snow back over her mother's grave and turned around and started for home. As her timber frame house came into view Katara could see the all too familiar smoke rising from the chimney into the frigid South Pole air, and something in her felt settled she still didn't want to leave her home but, she was ready to move on to the next part of her life and let destiny lead her down whatever roads it was that she had to travel.

* * *

“Prince Zuko are you awake?”

Zuko didn't answer the question right away. Mostly because it was pointless to dignify his uncle with an answer. Of course he was awake he was always awake before the sun rose. Today watching the sun rise would feel different from all the other times he watched it rise because it was the last time he would do so as a single man.

“Yes, uncle I'm up.” Zuko Called out through his closed bedroom door despite the fact that he was still in bed staring up at his canopy.

“Good! Hurry up and get dressed. There is much to prepare for today.”

If only he could put this day on hold and savor every last moment of being unmarried. He still wasn't sure how he felt about marriage especially ones that were arranged. His own parents had an arranged marriage that ended in disaster who was to say the same wouldn't happen to him? Though no matter how bad things in his marriage might get he would never banish his wife the way his father had done to his mother. He and his new wife would have to have children and he could never do anything so cruel to them as sending their mother away leaving them to wonder for the rest of their lives if she was dead or alive. Not knowing was the cruelest fate of all.

He rolled out of his bed and brushed his hair from his eyes and stood in front of the window. He didn't have a stitch of clothing on but that didn't matter because no one could see him. The sun came up slowly in a brilliant array of fiery oranges and golden yellows supplanting the darkness and illuminating the city that spread out before him. It was like watching an artist painting the world anew. In those few moments when the sun was rising into the sky yesterday's sins were forgotten and everything felt possible. The sun breathed life into everyone winding them up like clockwork toys and sending them off to jobs and chores that made the world run.

Zuko stretched pushing through his toes and lifting his arms high into the air and extending his finger tips as he reveled in the sumptuous feeling of the sun's warmth on his bare skin. This moment as brief as it was belonged to just him. He wasn't a prince or a future Fire Lord. He didn't have meetings or duties or appearances to make. In the moments that the sun was rising he answered to no one and he was no one but Zuko. He was only Zuko.

“Prince Zuko, if you please, I've come to draw your bath and get you ready for today's ceremonies.” A disembodied voice called from outside his door.

Zuko sighed an slipped on his robe. “Come in.”

A group of servants came in armed to the teeth with grooming supplies. He supposed that he needed that much help to beautify him for his first face to face meeting with his new bride but, he thought bitterly, there weren't enough supplies in the world to rid him of his scar. It was like a beacon on his face. It screamed look at me. Look at the mark of the banished prince. Somewhere in the South Pole Katara was probably under going a beauty ritual of her own. She didn't need it if the portrait he'd been sent of her was true to life. Not only was she beautiful but her skin was flawless. She was probably cursing the awful fate that lead her to be married to him.

For the next several hours Zuko was groomed into princely perfection. His hair was washed cut and combed. His skin exfoliated and then he was given a seaweed and mud body wrap. There was a pedicure and a manicure. Even his eyebrow was plucked. He didn't see why anyone would make such a fuss over one eyebrow but he didn't object. He was fitted into his bespoke dress robes. Outside the finishing touches were being made on his ship. He would sail to Hira'a where he would meet Katara and there they would be married. For the next two weeks they would honeymoon in Hira'a before setting sail back to the Fire Nation for their public marriage ceremony and dual coronation. A husband and a Fire Lord at age eighteen how he would be able to pull either off was beyond him.

Zuko wondered why it was that his uncle couldn't have negotiated that he go to live in the South Pole rather than Katara coming to live in the Fire Nation, he'd never particularly cared for the cold, but leaving his and his country's past behind him was more than enough motivation to make him consider living in the land of permafrost, especially if that meant not having the impossible task of repairing his country's shameful reputation. Only it was foolish and wishful thinking to believe he could out run his past. He made his way to the throne room where he was to meet his uncle. When he got there the first thing he saw was his sister sitting on what was to shortly be his throne casually inspecting her impeccably clean nails.

"Well, well, well, look at you Zuzu all dressed up in your big boy clothes. You can dress up an iguana-python all you want to but at the end of the day it's still an iguana-python." She drawled. "If you really wanted to impress your fiancee you'd get a bag for your head and save her the trouble of having to look at your hideously marred face. It'll be a wonder if she'll be able to keep her dinner down."

"Why don't you jump in an active volcano."

"Age before beauty." His sister quipped.

"Go away Azula!"

"Make me." She retorted.

"What are you doing here anyway? I'm expecting uncle not you."

"I just wanted to bestow my blessing on the happy groom."

"Why do you have to do this now?"

"Why do you think? Azula asked as she slowly crossed her legs. "We wouldn't even need this pathetic marriage if uncle and the Fire Sages weren't such sycophants. She rolled her eyes. "Paying out all that restitution to the rest of the world is pathetic. What does uncle hope to gain by it? The war was years and years ago, but the rest of the world still sees the Fire Nation as monsters just because they fail to realize that fire is the most powerful element."

"It's not the most powerful element." Zuko countered. "That kind of thinking is what lead us to having to pay restitution in the first place, and if dad hadn't of started up the neo-Azulon moment he'd still be Fire Lord and I wouldn't have to be."

"I should be Fire Lord!" His sister shouted turning her normally beautiful features into a snarled mask. "Uncle had no right passing the throne on to you."

Zuko took a breath he suddenly didn't regret becoming Fire Lord if the alternative was Azula ruling the Fire Nation. She would be no better than her father would have been.

"Just because you sit on the throne doesn't make you Fire Lord, but you're welcome to play at it all you want to." He said with false cheerfulness.

His sister jumped from the throne and leapt towards him just as his uncle entered the room.

"Azula!" He called sharply stopping her on the spot. "Leave now!"

She scowled deeply at the both of them a moment before leaving the room without another word.

"Azula is never going to give me a moments peace as long as I'm Fire Lord."

"Do not worry about her for now." His uncle stepped back to take a look at him. "I must say you are looking quite dapper, Prince Zuko."

"You don't have to lie to me uncle."

"When have I ever lied to you?"

That was true his uncle never lied to him. He always told him the truth whether he wanted to hear it or not. But just because his uncle wasn't lying to him didn't mean that he couldn't be bias. He knew that when Katara looked at him all she would see was his scar.

"I meant what I said. You do look very dapper, but there is something missing."

"What?"

"My wedding gift to you." His uncle said and pulled something from his pocket that was wrapped up in an old piece of cloth. "This is a royal artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince." He handed the bundle over to Zuko.

Carefully he unwrapped the cloth to reveal a golden hairpin in the shape of the Fire Nation's flame insignia. "Why are you giving this to me now?"

"Because, his uncle said placing one hand on his shoulder, now that you are to be a husband and the Fire Lord you need to better understand the battle that rages within you. Sozin was your father's grandfather,but your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku and that is why evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the fire nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to help restore balance to the world."

Zuko stared down at the hairpin as if it might bite him. What a bomb to have dropped upon him on his wedding day. He wrapped the hairpin back up. "Thank you uncle, I think."

His uncle laughed. "Come now. It's time to set sail. I was informed by messenger hawk moments ago that Katara's ship has just set sail for Hira'a. You don't want to keep your fiancee waiting."

Yes I do. Zuko thought but he knew it was pointless to voice that opinion.

Zuko concentrated on his ship, a wedding gift from the fire sages, as he made his way out of the front gates of the Fire Nation Palace. Looking at the ship and not the thousand upon thousands of subjects that had turned up to bid him farewell help to ease the feeling of nausea that was slowly creeping its way up his throat and threatening to embarrass him with a public display of projectile vomiting. The three story ship was the newest and fastest in the Fire Navy fleet, although it was more of an ocean liner than a war ship. An over the top luxury to show off for the future Fire Lady. The waiting crowd outside cheered and called out for him. They waved Fire Nation banners while some waved Southern Water Tribe Banners. Others in the crowd jeered and booed. They were not happy about a Water Tribe princess sitting on the throne. 

Zuko didn't pay attention to either side he was too busy trying to not be sick. With every step he took his stomach twisted up inside of him. It felt like the longest walk of his life making his way to his ship. His dress robes had fit him perfectly before but now they felt too small. His collar was all but choking him. He swallowed his mouth was suddenly dryer than a desert. He tried clearing his throat a couple of times but it did little to relieve his dry mouth. The closer he got to his ship the more he felt like he might become completely undone and separate into his two basic parts the Fire Lord and the descendant of the Avatar. This was it. This was the point of no return. Today he would leave the Fire Nation a single man and come back married and then be crowned Fire Lord.

* * *

Katara took one last look at her room. The only bedroom she had known for the past sixteen years of her life. She traced her fingers over the snowflake that her father had painstakingly carved into the headboard of her four poster bed. The lilac bedspread had been sewn by her Gran gran, but the blue and white bunting blanket that sat at the end of her bed had been made by her mother. She lie back on the bed and clutched the bunting blanket to her chest.

“I thought I might find you here.” Katara looked up and saw her brother standing in the doorway.

“Is it time to go?”

“Not yet. But there's someone who wanted to say goodbye.”

Her brother stepped aside to reveal the person standing behind him.

“Bato!” Katara cried and jumped off her bed and hugged him.

“You didn't think you were going to leave without saying goodbye to me did you?”

“Of course not, but I don't leave until tomorrow.”

“Well then I'll say goodbye then as well.”

“It's not goodbye it's farewell. “You'll be allowed to visit me.”

“And I will first chance I get.”

“Promise?”

“Wild polar bear dogs couldn't keep me away.”

“Will you bring me five flavor soup?”

Bato looked at her brother. “She'll only miss my soup not me.”

“Of course I'll miss you. You're family.” She hugged him again. Katara could never forget how Bato had been there for her father and her and her brother when their mother died. When their father's job kept them away from home Bato had stepped in as a surrogate father.

“You're going to do the Southern Water Tribe proud by being the greatest Fire Lady the world has ever seen. You've grown into an incredibly smart, brave, and compassionate young lady, and that's exactly what the Fire Nation and the world needs right now. Your mother would be so proud of you.”

Katara felt the tears coming and knew it was futile to fight them so she just let them fall.

“Once you've stopped tear bending come into the living room we've got something for you.” Sokka said.

Katara dried her eyes and follow her brother and Bato into the living room.

“Tada!” Sokka said and pointed to a wooden hope chest.

“It's beautiful.” She cried as she walked up to the chest. She ran her hand over the surface that felt smooth as silk. On the inside was a beautiful patchwork quilt in various shades of blue. Two pillows with fancy lace pillowcases. A linen sheet set also in blue. A white silk peignoir set with matching slippers. A kimono and a sarong that she could use as a beach cover up.

“It's your trousseau.” Her Gran gran said.

“Thank you so much.” She hugged everyone in the room.

“We just wanted to make sure you wouldn't forget us.” Sokka said.

“I'll never forget you. The South Pole is my home and always will be. No matter where I am in the world I'll always be Southern Water Tribe.” She looked into her father's eyes. "Always."

  
Katara was sick of being on the sea. She longed to feel the solid ground beneath her feet again. The ship's captain informed her that they were now only one hour away from Hira'a, but it felt more like one week. She was sick of waiting to meet Zuko. Tired of having to take her father's word about what kind of man the prince was she wanted to know for herself. The truth mattered to her and the thought that she might be married to someone who kept secrets from her was worrying. The closer the ship got to Hira'a the more she thought about all the bad qualities that Prince Zuko might possess that her father didn't know about. It made her stomach roil. The only thing that brought her peace of mind was the fact that the Fire Nation had already sent out a fleet of ships to intercept the Northern Water Tribe ships. They were the only military force in the world that was a match for the North's forces. Once upon a time no one could stand up to the Fire Nation's Navy, but the war and the metal and steam revolution had changed the entire world.

The metal and steam revolution had changed the Southern Water Tribe it had given them their independence and an economic boom, but that financial freedom had come at a price. The North felt the South owed them part of their new found economic wealth even though they hadn't supported the Southern Tribe when they left the North all of those many years ago. Occasionally throwing scraps in their laps didn't count. Where were they when the South was continuously raided by the Fire Nation? Perhaps if they'd once offered their support instead of trying to remain impartial her mother might still be alive.

Katara sighed. There was no sense in dredging up those memories they were water underneath a very painful bridge that she already crossed. There was nothing to do but burn the bridge and salt the earth. Nothing stayed the same forever. No one stayed the same forever. Once again events in her life that were bigger than her would forever change her and whether that was for better or for worse remained to be seen.

Out on the deck she stared at the water and noticed how it had changed from the deep dark icy blue of the Hanyewi ocean and gave way to the soft bluish green of the Mo Ce Sea. She took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and felt her spirits lift. It was nothing like she was used to, but it was beautiful. A pod of dolphin-rays swam by the ship off to depths unknown. Above her seagull-turtles cried out. Everything was so vibrant, colorful, and fresh. When she looked to the shore she could see sandy beaches that stretched out for miles and miles.

"We're coming into port!" The captain cried out.

Katara's heart began to beat in double time. She had finally made it to Hira'a. While the ship was docking Katara went back to her cabin to check herself in the mirror one last time before she was to meet her husband. She squeezed her necklace. "Well aaga wish me luck." She said and went back on deck.

As she was helped off of the ship and on to the dock she was met by two elderly women who appeared to be twins.

"Hello. We are Li and Lo and we will be your guides and advisers while you stay in Hira'a. Please come with us."

Katara turned back to watch Fire Nation servants unloading her things from the ship.

"Please be careful with that." She called as they unloaded her hope chest.

"Yes, princess Katara."

She turned around and followed Li and Lo to a bungalow. The interior of the bungalow was gauche. Every space on the wall was covered by pictures of sea shells or twee sea creatures. Knickknacks covered every inch of available space. The curtains, couch, and arm chairs matched the wallpaper.

"Before you are to meet Prince Zuko you must change into the proper attire." Lo said or it could have been Li Katara wasn't really sure because they were dressed alike.

Katara stood with her arms akimbo. "What's wrong with what I have on?" She demanded.

"It is too Water Tribe. You are in the Fire Nation now and must dress accordingly."

She was going to have to get name tags for the twins or else she'd never be able to tell them apart. If the outfit that they had picked out for her looked anything like the interior of the beach house she was going to refuse to wear it.

"An outfit has been laid out for you upstairs in your room. Please go and put it on before we send out for Prince Zuko."

It was only because she was so anxious to meet Zuko that Katara went up to her room to change.

Her bedroom was just as gauche as the rest of the house, but she figured that once she met Zuko she could stay in the same house as him so long as they didn't have to share a room after all they weren't married yet.

Her mother's necklace didn't go with the outfit so she took it off but the moment she changed out of these clothes she was going to put it back on. She opened up her hope chest and placed the necklace on top of the other items. She looked at herself again in the mirror it was strange to see her neckline without her aaga's necklace there but she reminded herself it was only temporary. On top of her dresser there were several bottles of perfume. She picked up the bottles and smelled each of them and finally decided on a light floral scent. She'd never smelled whatever type of flowers that the perfume was made from but she loved the scent anyway.

"Don't you look beautiful." The twins said when Katara came back down the stairs.

"Thank you."

"Prince Zuko won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Possibly Lo said.

"That's for sure. Zuko is a very lucky young man."

Since it wasn't just looks that mattered, Katara thought, the real luck was that she had a nice enough personality to backup her looks.

"Prince Zuko will be here shortly, please have a seat until then."

Katara sat down on an overstuffed loveseat with the pattern of seashells and waited.

The moment that Zuko laid eyes upon Katara he felt both relieved and distressed to find out that the portrait of her had been true to life. No that wasn't exactly true the portrait didn't do her justice she was much more beautiful in person. He had practiced his greeting to her a million and one times but the moment he laid eyes upon her his words left him.

"Ah, Hello there. I'm umh Prince Zuko, but I guess you already knew that." He cringed inwardly. Great he was off to a smooth start. "So how was your trip over? You uh didn't run into any trouble did you?" She must think he was a bumbling idiot. He thought he was a bumbling idiot.

"No it was fine. I'm happy to finally be on land again." She replied. "Hira'a is beautiful it's nice that we'll get to spend a little time here before we have to go back to the Fire Nation."

"Er, yeah it is. Would you like to maybe go to the beach?"

"I would love that."

"Good." Zuko said and relaxed a little. "Let's go." Thankfully Li and Lo did not accompany them to the beach. Zuko wasn't even sure why they came along in the first place since they were Azula's advisers and not his. He merely tolerated their presences.

"We have a private beach here so we don't have to worry about tourist, but the beach at Ember Island is much nicer." Zuko explained.

"I've only been to the beach once before so it won't be very hard to impress me."

"The happiest times of my life were spent at the beach on Ember island so maybe that's why I prefer it to here."

"All my happiest time have been in the snow and ice. You haven't lived until you've gone penguin sledding."

"Penguin sledding?"

"It's practically a national pass time in the South Pole."

"I'll take your word for it."

"No you have to do more than that." Katara said. "One day you'll actually have to go penguin sledding with me."

He couldn't believe how easy it was talking to Katara, or at least it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be. Of course they were only making small talk they hadn't really discussed anything real, but hopefully this was a sign of how things were going to be between them. Given the history between their two nations things could have certainly gone much worse.

"It must be hard being so far away from home."

Katara nodded. "At least I'll get to see my family again for the wedding."

She'd said the W word. The one ton hippo-elephant in the room. At that moment he realized that there was a huge difference between walking and talking on the beach and actually becoming husband and wife. Their actual marriage was only a few hours away and their wedding only weeks away. It was a strange sensation to feel as if the walls were closing in around you when you were outside.

"Zuko, are you O.K.?" Katara asked. "You look a little pale."

"No. No I'm fine."

"Are you sure? We can turn back if you want to. I'm a little tired myself."

"O.K." Zuko said. He wondered if Katara was really tired or just being nice for his sake.

"I probably should take a nap so that I'm all rested up for our marriage ceremony."

"That's a good idea." He admitted.

They walked back to the bungalow without saying another word to each other. All in all there first meeting had not gone too badly. In fact it had gone better than he thought that it would.

"So I guess that I'll see later." He closed his eyes slowly. What a stupid thing to say of course he'd see her later.

"I guess so." She opened the door to the bungalow and was met by Li and Lo.

"Back so soon?" Lo asked.

"Yes. We thought we'd get in some sleep before the marriage ceremony." Zuko told them.

"Well come in and sit down and talk to us while Katara goes to change. Don't be a stranger." Li encouraged.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with these two old bats. The only reason they wanted to talk to him was so they could pump him for information on Katara. Well he wasn't going to tell them a damn thing, not only because there wasn't much to tell, but also because he wasn't going to serve as their eyes and ears to Azula.

"Come, come." Lo said and directed him to sit in an armchair with the pattern of seahorses on it.

While Zuko tried to think of away to dismiss himself his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Katara's footsteps pounding down the stairs.

"Where is my hope chest? What did you do with it?" She asked.

"We got rid of it." Li said. "We told you that you won't need Water Tribe clothing or anything else from the Water Tribe in the Fire Nation."

"What about my necklace? My aaga's necklace was in there."

"I'm afraid it's gone along with your clothing."

"You got rid of my necklace! That was my mother's necklace it was the only thing I had left of her. You had no right to take it from me no right at all!" She shouted.

"Katara I'm sorry." Zuko began.

"Shut up!" She snapped. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me. I should have known marrying someone from the Fire Nation would lead to unhappiness. It's not enough that you took my mother from me, now you had to take her necklace too." She spun on her heels and ran up the steps. A second later the door slammed.

Just when everything had been going so well.

"How could you do that?" Zuko shouted.

Li and Lo just shrugged.

He felt like dragging the two old bats out into the ocean and drowning them both.

"What did you do with her hope chest?" Zuko asked. "I know you haven't gotten rid of it yet."

"Prince Zuko you need to put your foot down before you get married. Don't let her hang on to her water tribe ways." Li said.

"She's Fire Nation and the quicker she assimilates to that the easier it will be for everyone." Lo added.

"I am putting my foot down." Zuko said. "Get Katara's hope chest back or get used to spending the rest of your days in the boiling rock for stealing from the royal family."

"Yes Prince Zuko."

"At once Prince Zuko!"

"Don't ever let me catch you touching her things again. Katara is going to be my wife and your Fire Lady so you either get used to the idea or I'll find the both of you another country to live and you won't have to worry about who your Fire Lady is."

  
Slowly Katara opened her eyes as she sat up in bed and out of habit reached for her mother's necklace, but there was nothing there. The house was quiet and the lights in her bedroom had been turned off. She realized that she must have cried herself to sleep. Her aaga's necklace was gone forever. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes, but there was no one to turn to who could comfort her. At this moment she didn't know who she hated more Li, Lo, or Zuko.

She was all set to marry him in a few hours, but how could she when she didn't even want to look at his face? Of all the things she imagined going wrong with her relationship with Zuko this was not one of them. As She bent some water out of her flask and used it to clean her puffy and tear stained face there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"Katara may I come in?"

It was Zuko. "No go away. I already told you I don't want to talk to you."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Just let me give you your wedding gift then I'll go away I promise."

"Fine!" she snapped. "But you've got exactly five minutes." She yanked open the door and then threw herself down on her bed.

"Here." He said and thrust an old cloth at her.

Reluctantly she took it from him and began to gingerly unravel the cloth.

"Sorry that I didn't have time to wrap it."

"Whatever it is I don't want it." She said coldly. "Nothing can make up for -she gasped when she finally unwrapped the gift from the cloth- my mother's necklace!"

Katara jumped up from her bed and hugged him. "How did you get it back?"

"It's a long story, but let's just say Li and Lo will never try anything like that again."

"Oh, Zuko thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said. "I got your hope chest back too. I didn't want our marriage to get off on the wrong foot before it even started.

She squeezed her mother's necklace in the palm of her hand and then hugged it close to her heart.

Zuko smiled at her. "So I take it you like your wedding gift?"

"Yes. It's the best gift you could have ever given me. She said and then kissed him full on the lips and watched as her husband to be blushed to the roots of his hair.


	2. Speak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding vows that Zuko and Katara exchange in this story are both "traditional" wedding vows of Hindu culture and Apache culture. I put traditional in quotations because they do not have traditional vows like that in a western christian wedding. I picked these vows because I wanted something that was authentic and I felt these vows were both representative of the characters cultures on the show and in real life. No intent was made to disrespect or undermine anyone's religion or culture.

When Katara was younger she'd often dreamed about her wedding day. As a princess of the Southern Water Tribe thinking about marriage was inevitable. Marrying and marrying well is what royals did. She was only eight years old when negotiations for a marriage contract between her and Hahn were being talked about. She had met the young prince several times before and he had always seemed nice enough.

They had a lot in common both being Water Tribe and they liked a lot of the same things. To eight year old Katara Hahn was perfect. He liked penguin sledding and ice skating. In snowball fights he could hold his own against Sokka. He was funny and always shared his candy with her. What else could she ask for in a potential husband, and she was sure that he would become her husband.

She had no way of knowing that while she and Hahn played together her father and his father were hammering out the details of their marriage alliance in the throne room of the Northern Water Tribe palace. Two years later she would find out for herself just why it was that her father didn't want her to marry Hahn or become a royal family member.

While her father and Pakku were still trying to hammer out the details of their marriage alliance she, Sokka, and Hahn were in the royal courtyard having a snowball fight. As usual she and Hahn were on one side and Sokka and Hahn's cousin Kumaglaq were on the other side a huge pile of snow lay in between them.

"Face it Hahn you're never going to win with a girl on your side." Sokka had taunted them.

"Yeah! You two are going down." Kumaglaq said siding with her brother.

It was the wrong thing to do. Using her bending Katara formed the biggest snow ball that she'd ever formed in her life from the snow that made up the huge mound in between the two groups and dropped it on top of Sokka and Kumaglaq.

"No fair using your bending." Sokka cried out when he'd dug himself out of all the snow.

Hahn and Kumaglaq looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"You waterbend?" Hahn asked.

"Yes." Katara said but she didn't like the tone in Hahn's voice.

"You're a girl. Girls are forbidden from learning waterbending."

"Says who?" Katara wanted to know.

"Says my dad and he's the Chief."

"Well my dad is a Chief too and he says girls can waterbend."

"Not in the Northern Tribe. If you're a healer that's O.K., but girls bending is stupid they can't bend as good as boys and that's why their the healers. Girls take care of benders they don't become them."

"You really shouldn't have said that." Sokka warned him moments before she buried Hahn in an avalanche of snow.

It was the last time she visited the Northern Water Tribe and she and Hahn never did speak to each other again. Not long after that the negotiations between the two tribes broke down completely and the marriage was off. Katara hadn't been upset in the least bit she didn't want to marry Hahn or go to live in any place as backwards as the North Pole.

Her father told her not to worry that now she was free to marry whoever it was she wanted.

"What about Chief Pakku? She asked. "Won't he be mad at you because I don't want to marry his son?"

"He might be at first but he'll get over it. I'm sure he'll find someone else to marry that misogynistic little twerp.

So Katara had put Hahn and his father out of her mind, but when she woke up the next morning and went outside their town was surrounded by ships from the Northern Water Tribe. At first she couldn't figure out why they were there, but it wasn't too long before she found out why. Pakku hadn't gotten over the fact that the South had broken the marriage contract. It was just another thing for her to feel guilty about, and she felt guiltier still when she found out why it was that Chief Pakku had sought so hard for his son to marry her.

It was a conversation that she was never meant to hear. Her father and her Gran gran had been discussing her when they thought she was in bed, but she'd come down stairs for a glass of milk. When she heard her Gran gran mention her name she stopped outside of the kitchen to listen even though she knew eavesdropping was wrong.

"Does Katara know the truth?"

"About what?"

"About why you wanted her to marry Hahn in the first place."

"No. I couldn't tell her and I never will. She feels bad enough about what happened to her mother."

"It still doesn't make what happened to Kya Katara's fault."

"I know that and you know that but she won't."

"It's not your fault either son."

"Maybe not, but I am the one who encouraged Kya to get her fortune told when we were visiting the Earth Kingdom. If I hadn't of done that the Fire Nation soldier would have never overheard Aunt Wu's prediction about a waterbender of unmatched power being born in the South Pole, and for that matter Pakku probably wouldn't have found out either and he would have found some high ranking girl from the North to marry his pompous spoiled brat of a son."

"Even without Aunt Wu's prediction the Fire Nation would have found out about Katara, and eventually so would Pakku."

"Doesn't matter now. There's nothing we can do to change the past all we can do is make sure Katara never finds out."

Katara never told her father or her Gran gran that she knew the truth about why the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe sought her out, but on that day she vowed to become the best waterbender in the world so that one day she could find the Fire Nation soldier who killed her mother and get her vengeance.

Helping the people of her town was a huge part of the reason she'd agreed to marry Prince Zuko, but the real reason, the one she didn't like admitting to herself, and couldn't admit to her father or her Gran gran was because it would put her one step closer to finding her mother's killer. When Zuko became Fire Lord he would have a lot of power; surely he would have more than enough power to find out who it was that raided her town that day.

It was all the motivation she needed to put on the white peplum dress that Li and Lo had laid out for her marriage ceremony. After Zuko left to be dressed for their marriage ceremony neither Li nor Lo would speak to her which was fine because she didn't want to talk to the meddlesome old biddies anyway. Instead of helping her get ready the twins had hired local women, Akane and Chiyo, from the village to help her get ready. Another thing to be thankful for. Spirits only knew what kind of hair and make up job those two would have done on her. Akane did Katara's make up while Chiyo did her hair in an elaborate updo secured by white fire lilies.

"You look so beautiful." Akane said when she was finished applying Katara's makeup. "Just like a proper Fire Lady. I can't wait to see your wedding in the Fire Nation. I just know you'll look stunning in your shiromuku."

"Thank you."

"Are you nervous?" Chiyo wanted to know.

"Yes. Things might be different if my family were here with me, but everyone thought it would be better if Zuko and I focused on getting to know each other first."

"That sounds so romantic." Chiyo said dreamily.

"Not really. Zuko and I still hardly know anything about each other. I'm basically marrying a stranger."

"Yeah, but what a stranger." Akane said and fanned herself and then giggled.

"As far as arranged marriages go I guess it could have been worse." Katara admitted thinking of how she could have been married to Hahn instead. Whatever else she had to say about the Fire Nation at least they weren't the misogynistic nightmare that the North was. They were only bloodthirsty warmongering genocidal colonizing maniacs.

"I'm telling you, Chiyo said as she helped Katara into her shoes, you're wedding is going to be like a fairy tale. I've never seen a more handsome groom or a more beautiful bride."

Katara turned to look at herself in the mirror she did look every bit the beautiful bride even if she felt ugly inside for marrying the enemy.

Zuko turned the hairpin his uncle had given him as a wedding gift over and over in his hands. He wondered not for the first time today why his uncle chose to reveal to him on his wedding day that he was Avatar Roku's descendant. He supposed there was some comfort in knowing that his bloodline wasn't one of pure evil. Avatar Roku had done a lot of good for the world and that meant that same good was inside of him somewhere.

He took the old hairpin out of his hair and set it on his dresser drawer. Out with the old and in with the new. He gathered up his freshly cut hair and pulled it into a top knot and after securing the top knot in place with a ribbon he placed the new hairpin in his hair.

He was all dressed up with no place to go there was nothing more for him to do but sit and wait until the carriage came to take him and Katara to the Fire Temple to be married. Sitting all by himself was more nerve wracking then sitting with someone else and he wished that he hadn't of dismissed his uncle's offer to help him get ready. Now that he was all alone he realized just how much he hated being alone.

He wished that his mother was here with him she always had a way of calming him down and making him feel at ease. She saw the good in him even when he couldn't see it in himself and now he realize that was probably in part to her being Roku's granddaughter. Katara had also seen the good in him when he'd gotten her mother's necklace back and she even kissed him once again giving him hope that his marriage would not turn out like his parents.

Zuko wondered if right now Katara was wishing that she could see her mother. It cut at him like a knife knowing that his family was responsible for her losing her mother and also knowing that there was nothing he could ever do to make it up to her. Even defending the Southern Water Tribe from the North was of little consolation. How were either of them ever going to be able to forget all that history?

The door to his bedroom had been left open and his uncle stepped through it. "Prince Zuko your carriage has arrived."

"Already?"

"Yes. It is time to go."

Zuko stood up but his knees gave out and he promptly and unceremoniously fell back down into his chair. His uncle swiftly came to his side and pulled him up to his feet.

"I think I'm going to be sick." He confessed.

"You will be all right Zuko. Just breathe."

He had to lean on his uncle to make it out of the house. The warm night air made him feel a little better. He sat back in the carriage and looked out of the window but wasn't able to concentrate on the scenery going by all he could think about was the next day and the next day and the next. He had never been good at taking things one day at a time.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like the earth is about to open up and swallow me whole." He answered truthfully.

"Today is only one moment in time that will soon be over. Relish this day do not hasten it away.

"Yes, but this marriage will be for the rest of my life, or it should be."

"It will be."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you are not your father. You are capable of love and of loving. You have always been an idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor."

Zuko didn't say anything but swallowed hard at the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He may not have had his mother at his side but he had his uncle who was and always had been his real father.

"Thank you uncle."

"If you really want to thank me you'll have lots and lots of children."

"Uncle!"

His uncle let out a belly laugh that shook the whole carriage and Zuko couldn't help but laugh himself.

The carriage pulled to a stop and he realized that they had arrived at Katara's house. The nervousness that he had been feeling before came back tenfold.

"We are here." His uncle said unnecessarily.

The footman opened the door and his uncle stepped out and Zuko followed him. The night air was balmy and carried the sent of fire lilies a scent that he had always loved. Up above the stars were all out in all of their glorious brilliance as if they'd all come out to witness this unprecedented union.

He walked up to Katara's front door on shaky legs. As he stepped up onto the porch the front door opened and Li and Lo stepped out.

"May we present to you your fiancee." They said in unison.

Katara came out of the house slowly and Zuko thought that he had never seen anyone more beautiful. Her hair was done up in fancy curlicues and swirls that were held in place by white fire lilies. Her white dress fitted her perfectly and made her brown skin seem to glow in the moonlight.

"Hi." He gulped out. "You look beautiful."

"So I didn't before?"

"No! I mean yes." He shook his head. "That's not what I meant." He stammered then looked up at her face and saw that she was teasing him.

"You look very handsome yourself Prince Zuko."

He grinned widely. "Thank you."

"You two will easily be the best Fire Lord and Lady the world has ever seen." His uncle said.

The small party made there way to the carriage and were off at once. Zuko wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. Katara was sitting next to him and she reached out and took his hand and smiled at him. He let out the breath that he had been holding and relaxed a little. The ride to the fire temple felt both too long and too short. Zuko got out of the carriage still holding Katara's hand and it gave him the courage to walk the long walk up to the temple.

"It's beautiful." Katara said looking up at the building.

"Wait until you see it from the inside." His uncle told her.

Unlike the wedding that was to take place back in the Fire Nation the marriage ceremony was to be a low key affair. Just his Uncle, Li and Lo, and the Fire Sages would act as witnesses. After the ceremony there was to be no reception just a intimate dinner back at his house on Hira'a where he and Katara would stay until they traveled back to the Fire Nation palace.

"In a traditional Fire Nation marriage ceremony we vow the six steps to each other over the sacred flame. This flame has been burning for thousands and thousands of years." Zuko explained. "Then after we exchange the six steps of marriage the Fire Sages will bless our rings in the eternal sacred flame."

"That's very different from a Water Tribe wedding."

"I know." Zuko said. "That's why I brought in a Southern Water Tribe Chieftain so that we could also exchange Water tribe vows as well."

"Oh, thank you Zuko."

"You're welcome."

"Shall we start the ceremony?" One of the Fire Sages asked.

"Yes we're ready." Katara said.

"Good then let us begin. Each of you stand before the sacred eternal flame."

Zuko stood on one side of the flames and Katara stood on the other.

"I shall now tell you the six steps and you shall repeat them to one another." Zuko already knew all six of the steps but the Fire Sage repeated them clearly and slowly for Katara and once she was sure that she had them down she looked into Zuko's eyes and the two exchange the steps out loud.

"Let us take the first step to develop physical, mental and spiritual powers."

"Let us take the second step to increase our wealth by righteous means and proper use."

"Let us take the third step to acquire knowledge, happiness and harmony by mutual love and trust."

"Let us take the fourth step so that we are blessed with strong, virtuous and heroic children."

"Let us take the fifth step for self-restraint and longevity."

"Finally, let us take the sixth step and be true companions and remain lifelong partners by this wedlock."

The Fire Sage held their rings over the sacred eternal flames while saying an inaudible prayer before handing the rings over. Zuko and Katara exchanged rings. Zuko's hand shook as he slid Katara's ring on to her finger. Katara's hands did not shake as she slid his ring on to his finger. The rings were still warm from when the Fire Sage had passed them through the flames to bless them.

After they had exchanged their Fire Nation vows the Fire Sages stepped back and the Water Tribe Chieftain stepped forward. Just as the Sage had done with Katara he repeated the Water Tribe Wedding vows and when Zuko was sure that he remembered them the two exchange their vows.

"Spirits we honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together. We honor Mother Earth and ask for our marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons. We honor fire and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts. We honor wind and ask that we sail through life safe and calm as in our father's arms. We honor water to clean and soothe our relationship that it may never thirst for love. With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony as we grow forever young together."

When the vows were exchanged the chieftain drew the mark of the bonded upon their foreheads and then they drank water from the Spirit Oasis.

"By the powers vested in the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe we now proclaim you husband and wife to be bonded unto one another for life." The Fire Sage and the Water Tribe Chieftain said in unison.

Katara looked into Zuko's eyes. He didn't look any different to her than he had before she was married to him and she didn't feel any different than what she had before she was married, but everything in her life had just changed. She was now not only a citizen of the Fire Nation she was also princess of the Fire Nation soon to be their Fire Lady. None of it felt real to her. She felt like tomorrow she would wake up in her own room back in the South Pole and all of this will have been some very vivid and very bizarre dream. She didn't know how to feel about Zuko who was now her husband. She was catching feelings for him that she didn't want to catch. She was not ready to forgive the Fire Nation, but Zuko was turning out to be nothing like she thought that he would.

When she felt his face coming towards her she automatically closed her eyes. She knew that the two of them would have to exchange a kiss but she was not ready for it nor was she ready for the way she felt when she felt Zuko's lips on hers. The kiss was just a soft light feathery kiss but some how it still manage to touch every part of her and make her feel as though she were falling heedlessly through the starry midnight sky. There was something in the sincerity of his kiss that made her pulse race.

After they broke their kiss Zuko was still staring into her eyes and she had to turn away from the intensity of his burning gaze. She felt suddenly shy around him when before she had felt as if she had all the power. What was it about him? He washed away her defenses like water eroding a shoreline. She would have to be careful. It was true that she didn't want to be trapped in a loveless marriage but she didn't want to fall head over heels either. She looked down at the pink sapphire wedding ring on her hand and it made everything just a little more real.

"Are you ready to go home, Katara?" Zuko asked softly in her ear.

"Yes."

Home. It was no longer the South Pole and it was no longer with her Gran gran, Father, or her brother. From now on her home would always be with Zuko. Wherever he went she would go with him. As the Sage and the Chieftain had said they were bonded unto each other for life. On the carriage ride home Zuko took her hand. She could feel his wedding band on her fingers and that somehow made the hand holding feel different it felt more intimate if that were possible.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Zuko said. "Thankfully a wedding day dinner has already been prepared for us. I had the chef make Fire Nation and Water Tribe cuisine. I hope he got the Water Tribe dishes right."

There he went being thoughtful again. He was trying so hard to impress her and she wondered if he would always try this hard or would he stop after they had been married for awhile? Her own father was always doing things for her mother just to make her smile. Growing up with two parents who were totally in love with one another had been a part of her childhood, but she knew even without having to ask that it had not been a part of Zuko's.

Zuko's beach house, no their beach house, was twice the size of the one she had stayed in with Li and Lo and the inside was tastefully decorated. The good smells of the wedding dinner wafted out to greet them as soon as they stepped inside of the house. Katara's stomach growled.

"Let's not waste time." Zuko's uncle said patting his ample stomach. "Let's eat!"

Katara laughed. If Sokka were here he would have had the same reaction. She wondered what he was doing now. Was he thinking about her? Was the rest of her family thinking about her? She hadn't had a report yet on how the Fire Nation was doing against the Northern Water Tribe. She would have to remember to ask Zuko for a full report, but right now she just wanted to sit down and eat. She was starving.

Dinner was pleasant enough. Zuko's uncle did most of the talking. He certainly had the gift of gab. He told them many funny stories that made Katara laugh until her sides hurt. Some times Li and Lo would chime in with stories of what Hira'a was like years ago. Katara noted that they were all too careful not to mention anything about the war. After dinner she started to collect the dishes.

"Actually we have servants for that." Zuko said.

"Oh." Katara said and put the plates back down. That was something she would have to get used to. Even though she was a princess she'd never lived in a palace like they did in the North and she never had servants either. The Southern Water Tribe Chief being the head of state was something that was still relatively new in the South Pole. All of the time they were under Northern rule the role of Chief had mainly been that of a figurehead and he just dictated the will of the Northern Chief, but after the war the South won their independence referendum and the Chief of the South became a fully fledged ruler. She understood now why her father and Gran gran had lectured her so much about Fire Nation customs. Suddenly she felt in over her head. She was to be a Fire Lady.

"What do you want to do now?" Zuko asked. "We have a busy day tomorrow. There's brunch with the mayor and then we'll be touring the theater district. Oh and we have to make an appearance at the local schools. We probably shouldn't go too far away from the house, but I thought we could have a bonfire before we have to go to bed."

Katara felt her cheeks burn. Go to bed?

Zuko looked at Katara blushing and blushed himself. "We don't have to sleep in the same bed." He quickly amended. "This house has more than enough rooms. We don't have to you know do anything but just speak to one another. Or we could just sleep if you don't feel like speaking. I'll understand."

"I think it would be O.K. If we shared the same bed if all we did is sleep in it." Katara said. As daunting as the thought of sharing a bed with Zuko was she would rather sleep in the same room with him even if it meant sleeping in the same bed rather than sleeping alone in this huge house in a strange country, beside sooner or later they were going to have to share a bed.

"Of course! Just sleeping is fine." Zuko said. He sounded relived and that made Katara feel better. He was just as nervous as she was. She never thought to ask him if he'd been intimate with a girl and she was too embarrassed to ask him now. She knew all the world was expecting them to produce an heir, but if they were expecting them to produce one right away they were going to be sorely disappointed.

"Shall I go and start the bonfire that way you can get ready for bed."

"That sounds great." Katara said.

Zuko shot a flame into the pile of wood that had been gathered up for the bonfire in the backyard of his house, no the backyard of his and Katara's house. He had a wife now. A wife! He shook his head and wondered if he'd ever get used to the idea. From now on whatever he did in life he would have to consider her too.

He was surprised that she wanted to share a bed with him, he had expected that she wouldn't want to. He thought for sure that she would jump at the chance to sleep in her own room, but he was both happy and terrified that she wanted to share a bed with him. He was also relieved to know that all she wanted to do was sleep. He was no where near ready to do anything else. He was still trying to wrap his head around being married. There would be great expectations placed upon him to produce an heir to the throne but he didn't care about that. He wasn't going to do anything that he or Katara wasn't ready for. Besides he'd gone eighteen years without having sex he could wait.

"It's a beautiful night." Katara said stepping out into the backyard. She was wearing a beautiful silk robe with the print of parrot-peacocks on it. She'd taken her hair out of her updo and it hung lose around her shoulders. He still thought that she was the most beautiful girl that he'd ever seen. "I love the sound of the waves." She sat down next to him on the blanket that he had spread out near the bonfire.

"Me too." Zuko said. "My mother grew up here and she always talked about how beautiful the sea was."

"I can't wait to meet your mother."

"I'm afraid that will never happen." Zuko said. "My father banished her from the palace when I was just a kid. I haven't seen her since. I don't even know if she's dead or alive."

Katara's hands flew up and covered her mouth. "Oh, Zuko I'm so sorry."

Zuko picked up a pebble and tossed it into the fire. "It's all right you didn't know."

"Do you know why your father banished her?"

"Yeah, because he's the worst father in the history of fathers." He spat bitterly.

"Sorry."

"Don't be I'm not." Zuko said and lie on his back with his arms resting under his head. "He's in jail now where he belongs. What about you? I'll bet you miss your father. In the few times that I met him he seemed like a really nice guy."

"He is. I miss him a lot."

"I look forward to getting to know him."

"Do you know how things are going with the Fire Navy forces?" Katara asked.

"No, sorry. I didn't even think to ask, but I'll find out for you first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"It's the least I could do." He said and yawned.

"Ready for bed?" Katara asked.

"Yes, if that's OK with you."

"It is besides I'm tired myself it's been a long day."

Zuko extinguished the fire and the two of them walked in the house together.

"You can go ahead and get into bed I just need to change first."

While Zuko was getting ready for bed Katara snuggled into the bed burying herself deep deep down under all the covers. The bed was amazing it felt like she was sleeping on a cloud and she almost forgot for a moment that she would have to share it with Zuko. When the door to their bedroom opened and she saw him standing their shirtless she remembered all to quickly that he was her husband now, and for the rest of her life she'd be sharing a bed with him.

He had a body that looked as though it were carved out of marble. She had thought that he looked handsome in his dress robes, but now with his hair down and being shirtless he looked like some kind of warrior god.

"Is everything all right?" Zuko wanted to know.

"Yes. Everything is fine!" She squeaked. She pulled the covers up til they were under her chin but she really wanted to pull them over her head. She felt her cheeks burning it probably shouldn't be embarrassing to be caught ogling your own husband only it was.

"I'm going to get into bed now. You know to sleep just to sleep." Zuko said and a second later he climbed into bed.

Katara scooted away from Zuko even though there was no need the bed was huge enough to fit two more people in without anybody touching.

"Are you ready for me to turn out the light?"

"You don't snore do you?" She asked.

"I don't think so."

"Then I'm ready."

Zuko turned out the light and they were engulfed in total darkness.

"Goodnight Katara."

"Goodnight Zuko."

The lights might have been out but Katara's brain was still on. She couldn't see Zuko in the darkness but she could feel him moving around trying to get comfortable.

“I can't sleep either.” Katara said into the darkness.

A second later Zuko turned on his bed side light. “Is it O.K. That I turn the light on?”

“It's fine.” Katara said and turned on her bed side light and sat up.

“What does aaga mean?” Zuko asked.

“What?”

“Earlier when you were upset about the necklace you mentioned that it was your aaga's necklace. I thought maybe it meant mother, but I don't want to assume.”

“It does.”

“How do you say father?”

“Aapaga.”

“I should have asked you how to say uncle since my uncle has always been more of an aapaga to me than my own aapaga has.”

“That would be akkaga in water tribe.”

“Is there a difference in the Southern and Northern dialect?”

“There is, uiga. That means husband, and before you ask agnaga means wife.”

“Agnaga.” Zuko said testing the feel and the sound of the foreign word on his tongue. “My agnaga.”

“Stick with me uiga and I'll have you speaking my language like you're native born.”

“How do you say fire?”

“Ignik."

"I'm sorry am I bothering you with all of these questions?” Zuko asked.

“No. I'm glad you're interested in my language and my culture. It's nice that you want to learn how to speak Southern Water Tribe. I was actually expecting the exact opposite from you.”

Zuko turned on his side so that he could better look at his agnaga. Really? Why is that?”

“Well the Fire Nation isn't exactly known for respecting any other nation's culture but it's own.”

“I know. We weren't always like that it started with my great-grandfather Sozin. The comet corrupted him or maybe it revealed him for who he truly was.” He let out a deep sigh. “Either way he perverted the true meaning of firebending.”

“So if you don't mind my asking what is the true meaning of firebending?”

“Life and energy.” Zuko created a small flame in the of palm his hand. “You need to have power behind your firebending." He made the flame grow bigger. "But without control and without a life force behind that control all you're really bending is your own anger." He made the flame grow smaller until it was almost out. "I had to learn that lesson the way I've learned most lessons in my life; the hard way.” He made the flame bigger once more before he extinguished the flame.

“At least you learned.” Katara said. “Some people never do.”

“I hope I've learned enough to turn things around for my country.”

“I do too, but don't worry if you ever forget I'll be here to remind you.”

Zuko laughed. “I don't doubt that you will my agnaga.”

“A very wise assessment uiga.”

They both laughed and then Zuko's laugh turned into a yawn.

“Sorry. I'm not much of a night owl.”

“Sorry I am, but we probably should get some sleep since we have to get up so early.”

“You rise with the moon and I rise with the sun. I guess that's something we'll have to get used to about each other.”

“There's a lot we're going to have to get used to about each other.” Katara said.

“I know, but we can make it work. I can be pretty stubborn I don't like giving up or in.” He gave Katara a shy smile. “You strike me as pretty stubborn yourself.”

“You're not wrong.” Katara admitted. “Hopefully that will work for us and not against us. We've got enough people against us already.”

“I didn't want to tell you this, but there were protesters outside of the Fire Nation palace when I left to sail out to meet you. There are some people who don't want a Water Tribe Fire Lady.” Zuko turned to see the expression on Katara's face. If she was shocked she didn't show it. Then again why would she be shocked? The Fire Nation's xenophobic reputation was written on most people's brain in indelible ink.

“Most people in the Southern Water Tribe weren't too happy either. They aren't happy that we have to turn to our enemies for our salvation. They consider it the ultimate slap in the face.”

“I'm sorry. I wonder if my uncle or your father gave more than a passing thought to how this marriage would bring up painful memories for the both of us. Everything about me and my family probably opens up fresh wounds for you.”

Katara turned over on her back and stared up at the ceiling. “My father did what he had to do just like I'm sure your uncle did. I'm doing what I have to for my people and their survival. Sometimes I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place, but I don't want to feel this way. The way my parents were with each other the way they loved each other I always thought that I would have that kind of marriage, but I don't know if you and I will ever have that, so all I want for the two of us is not to hate each other. I don't want to spend my life in a loveless marriage.” Expressing her fears out loud made Katara feel somewhat better. She had never been the type to bottle her feelings up.

“I don't want that either. I'd like to think at one point in their marriage that my parents loved each other, but I honestly don't know if they ever did. I mean if my dad loved my mom then how could he banish her? My dad doesn't love unconditionally, but I'm not like that. I would never banish you. I promise you that, and if we can't find away to love each other we can at least be good friends who respect one another.”

Katara didn't say anything she continued to stare up at the ceiling. Good friends who respected one another. What if that was the best either of them could do? She didn't want that she wanted love, true love, but the problem was she still didn't know if Zuko was the person she wanted to fall in love with. If he'd been anybody else she could see herself falling in love with who he was. She turned over again and looked into Zuko's face. He was so handsome he was easily the most handsome boy that she had ever laid eyes on, and he was kind and thoughtful. Her heart, mind, and conscience were all warring with in her and she didn't know which one she should let win. In a situation like this she didn't even know if she could win.

“Are you ready for bed now?” Zuko asked.

“Yes.” She said though she knew she wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon.

“Well, goodnight for real this time agnaga.”

“Goodnight uiga.” She turned her light out and enveloped them both in darkness.

So this is what it was like to be married to her enemy. It was not at all like she had expected, but this wasn't even the real test of their relationship. The real test would begin when they went back to the Fire Nation to rule as Fire Lord and Lady.


	3. Shattered

Zuko slowly opened his eyes and looked up. When he didn't see the familiar deep red drapery of his canopy he started before remembering that he was not back in his room in the Fire Nation Palace he was in his beach house in Hira'a with Katara. He looked across the expansive bed to see if she was still asleep, but somehow Katara had drifted towards him in the night and now she was snuggled up underneath him like a limpet. He could tell from the way her chest rose and fell that she was still asleep so he just lie there afraid to move in case he woke her up.

Katara told him she was a night owl so it came as no surprise that she was a late sleeper, or at least she was compared to him who always woke up before the sun rose. He hated sleeping in it made him feel as if he was starting out the day one step behind. The Fire Nation was a country full of early risers. They were a punctual, practical, and disciplined culture. Lying in bed and relaxing was not his milieu. The guilt and tension was building inside of him. He would have to wake her up soon because they had a busy day ahead of them and every minute they weren't being productive was a minute wasted.

Katara seemed oblivious to that fact. She made soft purring moans and snuggled closer to him. Zuko suddenly decided that it wouldn't kill either of them if Katara got to sleep in a little while longer, and besides he could hear the servants bustling around downstairs getting breakfast ready the smells would soon wake her up if nothing else did.

As he predicted when the smell of komodo sausage and scrambled eggs wafted upstairs Katara began to stir in bed a few moments later she opened her eyes and yawned.

"Good morning sleepy head." Zuko greeted.

Katara's eyes doubled in size and she shrank back from him. "Zuko! Uhh sorry I must have moved closer to you when I was sleeping. I'm kind of a heat hog because it's always so cold in the South Pole. I'm just naturally used to finding the warmest thing around me and in this case it's you."

"I don't mind." Zuko said huskily.

"I ah smell b-breakfast."

"That would be the servants."

"I'm still not used to that back at home my Gran gran and I did all the cooking."

"We should get going. All of the servants have been waiting to meet you. Once you become Fire Lady you'll be in charge of overseeing them."

"Me?"

"Well, yeah. I mean that's the way it's always been done. You'll come to be thankful for them eventually. I know my mom certainly was. Her duties as a Fire Lady kept her so busy she didn't have time for much else."

"Why do I get the feeling I've got a lot to live up to." Katara said.

"My mom was an amazing Fire Lady. The servants loved her. When she left it felt like someone had drained all of the life out of the palace. I don't think anyone ever recovered." Zuko touched his scar. It wasn't long after his mother had been banished that his father had given it to him. It was meant to teach him discipline and respect and punish him for lacking honor, but all it did was teach him to hate himself. He was only now learning that he was not the image that his father tried to literally burn him in.

"Zuko are you all right?" Katara asked and took his hand in hers.

There was something about the concern in Katara's voice and the soft imploring look in her eyes that made Zuko want to pour his heart out to her. The only other person he'd been able to do that to in his life was his uncle. Katara was his wife and if there were anyone else in the world he should have been able to spill his heart out too it was her, but he cared what she thought about him and what she thought about his country and didn't want to risk alienating her anymore than she already had been. In the typical fashion of a Fire Nation arranged marriage Katara, the outsider, was the one who was expected to make the most sacrifices.

"I'm fine, but we should start getting ready for the rest of the day. It's going to be a busy one."

"O.K., but if you ever need to talk I'm here to listen."

"You can have the bathroom first if you need it." Zuko offered. No matter how much he wanted to he just couldn't open up.

"Thanks." She squeezed his hand and disappeared into the bathroom. Moments later he could hear the water running and Katara singing loudly and off key.

He gave a dry chuckle and then sent out for a communication to Admiral Gee to send a report about the situation in the South Pole.

The servants were lined up and waiting for Zuko and Katara at the bottom of the stairs. Upon seeing them they all bowed simultaneously."Good morning Prince Zuko, Princess Katara."

Zuko went down the line and introduced her to all of the servants. From the majordomo to the scullions. They were only a small portion of the larger staff that was waiting for her back at the Fire Nation Palace.

"Good morning. It's nice to meet all of you." Katara said. It was intimidating having so many pairs of eyes all focusing on her. There were so many positions and names to remember. Once they got back to the Fire Nation she would be in charge of all of these people most of whom were significantly older than her. At sixteen years old she didn't feel qualified to oversee any of them. Back home she'd helped her Gran gran run their house and helped in the homes of others who needed her help, but all of that didn't compare to what she was now being asked to take on.

"Do you think it would be all right if I shadow you for the next few days to get a feel of how things are run around here?"

"I think that would be an excellent idea Princess Katara." Sana, the majordomo, said and bowed. "I usually begin the running of the household affairs at five in the morning."

Zuko turned to look at her and raised his eyebrow.

"What? I can get up that early."

An insufferable grin spread across Zuko's face as he measuredly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I can and I will!" She snapped. If there was one thing she hated it was for people to make up their mind that she couldn't do a task before they saw her attempt that task. She might not be happy about it but she could get up early in the morning. She'd done it often enough back in the South pole when the need had arisen.

"Let's go eat breakfast."

After breakfast was finished. Akane and Chiyo came over to help Katara get ready for the day.

"How was your marriage ceremony?" Chiyo asked.

"It was nice. Zuko surprised me by having a Water Tribe Chieftain there."

"That's so romantic. I always knew that Prince Zuko was romantic."

"He's thoughtful, but I don't know if I'd call him romantic."

"Look up please." Akane said and began applying mascara to Katara's eyes. "I don't know the Hira'a Grand Theater might bring that out in him. It's a very romantic place."

"You can take Akane's word for it because she's a makeup artist there."

"No wonder why you're so good at this." Katara said looking into the mirror at her face. Under Akane's skilled hand she looked like a work of art. "Do you work at the theater as well?" She asked Chiyo.

Chiyo shook her head. "I work at a salon that my mother owns. Ursa used to get her hair done there before she mysteriously disappeared from Hira'a then reappeared in Capital city as prince Ozai's bride.

"I wish I could have met Zuko's mother."

"She was beautiful." Chiyo said. "Probably the most beautiful woman in Hira'a maybe even the world."

Katara couldn't speak because Akane was painting lipstick on her lips, but she was all ears. Zuko hadn't told her much about his mother and she felt it was too early in their relationship to ask him any information about her that he didn't volunteer himself, but she was interested in what kind of woman that his mother had been.

"Before she left she was a member of the Hira'a acting troupe. If she hadn't of married Fire Lord Ozai she probably would have been a world famous actor by now. My mom used to go to her plays and she said that she was phenomenal. Every play that she was in always sold out. Her house is one of Hira'a's most popular tourist attractions. After that her parents have passed away they've turned it into a museum in her honor."

"I didn't know that." Katara said. "I'd love to visit the museum."

"If you have the time maybe you can go before you visit the theater or I could always take you on a tour later on." Akane said.

Katara nodded. "I would like that."

Akane and Chiyo were the closest things she had to friends in the Fire Nation, but she had to be careful because her status as Princess and future Fire Lady changed how she made friends. She would always have to be aware of her rank and make others aware of her rank in a way that she didn't have to back in the South Pole. When Akane finished with Katara's makeup Chiyo began working her hair into a chignon. She was going to miss the both of them when she was back at the Fire Nation Palace. She had ladies-in-waiting but none of them were her friends, and she was beginning to wonder if she would ever have true friends again.

"All finished!" Chiyo said.

"Thank you two so much." Katara said and hugged them both. "You're welcome to come visit me at the Fire Nation Palace anytime."

"Really?" Chiyo said and jumped up and down and clapped her hands. "I've never been to the palace before. What an honor. Thank you so much Princess Katara."

"I've only been once, but I was a little girl and I don't really remember it." Akane said. "Wait until I tell my mother. I swear she'll faint dead on the spot."

Katara had scarcely finished putting on her shoes and saying goodbye to Akane and Chiyo when the carriage to take them her and Zuko the mayor's house pulled up.

Zuko met her in the foyer and he automatically took her hand as the pair made their way out the front door. He was wearing white and gold dress robes that fit his athletic frame perfectly. Every time she saw him he seemed more handsome than the last and when they held hands she felt a crazy chemistry between the two of them. Though their backgrounds were so diffrent they shared so much in common that sometimes she felt like something stronger than an arranged marriage brought them together. It was almost as if the universe and the Spirits had conspired to make sure that their paths crossed. Almost as if they truly did belong to one another, but it was crazy to think that way it was only a defense mechanism of her guilty subconscious. Mutual need had brought her and Zuko together and nothing else.

Mayor Tomoko and her husband Daishi were waiting on the front porch of their mansion home for Zuko and Katara. Zuko had met mayor Tomoko a handful of times as a young boy. She'd always been nice to him but was more fond of his sister Azula. That had been a reoccurring theme during his childhood; people preferring Azula over him, but who wouldn't prefer a prodigy over a late bloomer.

"Good morning Prince Zuko, Princess Katara. Are you ready for your grand tour of Hira'a?"

"Yes, thank you." Katara replied. "I can't wait to see all that Hira'a has to offer."

The group of four made their way back to the carriage and the tour began. The sightseeing order was dictated by mayor Tomoko and her husband Daishi. Both of whom were perfectly cordial to Zuko but they treated Katara as if she were invisible. If she asked them a direct question they would give the answer to him as if Katara hadn't spoken at all. They rhapsodize on and on about the virtues of his father and his mother whom they deemed a proper Fire Lord and Lady.

Zuko tried to not let their idiotic prattling ruin the trip. He'd recently found out through a series of letters that he'd confiscated from his sister that this was the village where his mother had grown up. He'd visited her old neighborhood on the long shot that his mother might be there but she wasn't and her parents had already passed, but he still held out hope that he might find her one day.

The carriage turned into his mother's old neighborhood and Zuko smiled. He was eager to show Katara the house turned museum where his mother grew up, but he wondered if that would be in poor taste.

"Are we going to be making a stop by your mother's house?" Katara asked him. "I'd really like to see it."

"And really like to show it to you."

His mother's house was exactly the same as it was as the day it had first been built. Even the farm was still there and there was staff on hand to help raise the pig-chickens. Inside there were posters of his mother in the various plays that she had acted in on the walls. The costumes that she had worn were safely encased in glass. A long glass table showcased scripts where his mother had written notes in the ledger. Zuko studied her handwriting. It was neat just like his own handwriting. His mother had always had neat handwriting, but Zuko only developed the talent after being smacked on the hands with a ruler so many times he'd given his teacher carpal tunnel. After witnessing his bruised, bloody, and swollen hands one too many times his mom had taken over teaching him how to write. She always took the time to go over his writing lessons with him and if he got a character wrong she never hit his hands or yelled at him. She just went over it with him again until he got it right.

"Zuko your mother is beautiful."

"Thank you." He said as he stared up at a picture of his mother. It had been so long since he had seen her it almost felt like another lifetime. The last time he had seen her she was saying goodbye and he'd been half asleep when she said it and sometimes he was convinced that he'd dreamed the whole thing.

"We consider this museum to be the crown jewel of Hira'a." Tomoko said excitedly. "Ursa was a true Fire Lady from the Fire nation and had her ship not been attacked by snow pirates she would still be our Fire Lady."

"What?" Katara said and spun around to face Tomoko. "Snow what?"

Zuko put his hand on her arm and pulled her a safe distance away from the mayor, but he could practically see waves of steam rolling off of Katara.

"Forgive me if my wife and I come across as a bit sentimental, Daishi said, but coming to this neighborhood makes me realize how much I miss the era of your mother and father. It's sad to see the end of what was once such a prosperous reign."

"Yes." Tomoko agreed. "It's wholly disappointing to know that under the regent Fire Lord the crown is now kowtowing to diplomacy, and I wonder what Fire Lady Ursa would think if she were here to see what's happening to the monarchy."

Zuko looked over at Katara surreptitiously to see if she was as angry as he was. Her hands were resting at her side but they were balled up into fist and every now and then she would dig her fingernails into her palms.

"You don't know anything about my mother and you certainly don't know what you're talking about." Zuko said sharply. "My mother is missing because my father, Fire Lord Ozai, banished her, and Katara will be a proper Fire Lady as any we've had before. Perhaps even better because she brings a fresh perspective to the throne." He wanted to say more he wanted to say a lot more, but as the future Fire Lord he knew that he had to keep a somewhat civil tongue in his head.

Tomoko sniffed and cut her eyes at Katara."If his highness says so. It's not my place to go against the word of the monarchy." She made a face as if she'd just bitten into a dung spider-beetle.

"His highness does say so, and as your highness so do I. It seems you need reminding of my place since you don't seem to know your own." Katara said and stared Tomoko down until she withered on the spot.

"I apologize your grace." Tomoko said through gritted teeth.

"I am now both Water Tribe and Fire Nation whether you, your husband, or anyone else likes it or not. I'm going to be a hands on Water Tribe Fire Lady whether you like it or not. I'm going to be involved in politics whether you like it or not, and as the first Water Tribe Fire Lady I have a chance and a duty to my people and the rest of the world to make sure this country's past never repeats itself. I won't let anyone intimidate me and I won't suffer or tolerate apologist or bigots."

"I never-." Tomoko began but Katara interrupted her.

"Been called out on it before, well there's a first time for everything."

For the rest of the tour Tomoko and her husband were on their best behavior though Zuko knew it was from being thoroughly upbraided rather than out of any respect for Katara.

"Sorry about that Katara."

"You don't have to keep apologizing to me Zuko. You're not responsible for the actions of other people and you can't control how other people feel about me. I knew what I was getting into when I married you. I'm not a fragile little girl I can handle myself."

"I know that, but I'm your husband and I'm always going to protect."

Katara didn't say anything so Zuko didn't either but he wished he knew what she was thinking. He could never tell what she was thinking when she got quiet. Was she regretting the marriage? While he wished his marriage didn't have to be arranged he didn't regret it. He could have done a lot worse than Katara for a wife. Their cultures couldn't have been any more different, but despite that or maybe because of it he felt like Katara was someone he could fall in love with and he never thought of himself as capable of falling in love before now.

"You're going to love the Hira'a grand theater." Zuko said hoping to lighten the mood. "It's my favorite place on this whole island. My mother used to take us to see the Ember Island players butcher Love Amongst the Dragons back at the Royal Fire Nation Theater. The Hira'a acting troupe's theatrical productions is so much better than the Ember Island players. Hira'a's production of Love Amongst the Dragons had the right amount of pathos where as the Ember Island player's is purely bathos."

Katara laughed.

"What's so funny?" Zuko demanded.

"You are. I can't believe I married a theater nerd."

"I guess I am. My sister and I always used to act out the parts from Love Amongst the Dragons."

"You really like that play."

"I do when it's done right."

Katara gasped when she saw the Hira'a Grand Theater; she couldn't help it the theater was breathtaking. The noyane roof of the four story red and gold building was entirely made out of thousands upon thousands of seashells and trimmed with delicate golden scrollwork. Two huge jade and gold phoenix statues stood on either side of the entrance. They stood with their legs stretched and their wings spread as if they were about to take off into flight. The front doors were made of glass that were etched with two huge cherry blossoms and were trimmed in gold. The path leading up to the front doors were made from lava rocks which were deep red in color. The landscape had been turned into the most amazing rock garden with one of the biggest coy ponds that Katara had ever seen in her life.

"I knew you'd like it." Zuko said his eyes shining with pride. "It's the second oldest theater in the Fire Nation. It was commissioned for the very first Fire Avatar."

The inside of the theater was just as beautiful as the outside. The first thing she noticed was the fusuma paneling with the scenery of the sun coming up over a snow capped mountain range painted onto the paneling. The shōji doors and walls gave the theater a wide open airy feeling.

"Hello Prince Zuko it's so good to see you again." A stocky man with salt and pepper hair greeted him and then bowed. "Oh and you must be Princess Katara. I see that the luck of the Spirits were with you on this arranged marriage Prince Zuko."

"Hi Kaito."

"Ever given anymore thought to abdicating the throne and becoming an actor?"

"You know I can't do that Kaito."

"Fine just go ahead and break my heart. Well if I can't convince you to become an actor how about going on stage and doing a monologue from Love Amongst the Dragons.

"Yes!" Zuko exclaimed.

Kaito lead the way up to the stage and Zuko ran ahead of everyone and reached the stage before everyone else.

Katara smiled. It was nice to see him excited about something it was like an insight into who he really was aside from someone who was always trying to impress her. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate him trying to impress her, but she got the distinct feeling that Zuko felt like he had to do nice things for her or else she'd never grow to like him. If their marriage were to stand a chance then she needed to know who he truly was so that she could like him for who he was. That meant learning what he loved, hated, and feared.

Kaito and Zuko slid back the fusuma paneling to reveal the stage. Zuko ignored the steps and climbed up on to the stage then held his hand out and helped Katara up onto the stage. She turned and looked out towards the audience and was struck by how many seats filled the theater. She couldn't imagine preforming in front of a packed audience. Zuko's mom must have been some kind of actor to be able to fill all of these seats.

Two stage hands brought out the dragon emperor costume for Zuko to don. Once he put the costume on Katara noticed a change in his demeanor right away. He hadn't spoken a single word but she could already see him as the dragon emperor. He placed the mask over his face and began to speak drawing others out on to the stage to watch his performance.

“Dark water spirit! You shall rue the day you condemned the mighty dragon emperor to dwell among mortals! I may be flesh and blood now but I vow to you that I shall return to my former glory and when I do I will vanquish you to the Spirit void, for within me there still beats the heart of a dragon and though you have changed my form you can never change my spirit!”

The small crowd that had gather clapped for Zuko and he turned red under his mask.

“You didn't say there would be a audience Kaito.” Zuko whispered harshly.

“I didn't know anyone was going to come out to watch you, but Prince Zuko you were amazing.”

Katara would have to agree. Acting must run in the family.

“I don't care about that. Get me out of here now!”

Katara sighed and wished that Zuko would learn to relax.

“How about a nice cup of tea to calm you down. Kaito said. “You really seem like you could use one right about now.” Kaito took them back to his onsite apartment and served them flowering tea.

"I hope you don't mind hibiscus your majesties. It was a favorite of Fire Lady Ursa's."

Zuko looked up from his cup of flowering tea. "I didn't know that."

"Oh yes. She always had a cup before going on stage. She said it worked wonders for protecting her voice. She was one of the best actors this theater ever saw. She had a kind of raw talent you don't see in many people, but I do see it in you Prince Zuko. You are truly your mother's son.”

Zuko didn't say anything for the longest time. He just sat there with his tea cup half way up to his mouth. "Thank you.”

"We were so happy for your mother when she became Fire Lady, Kaito said, but what a blow it was to this theater to lose her. Not just because she was the most talented actor I'd ever seen, but she was the heart and soul of this place. She was irreplaceable.”

Zuko didn't say anything but Katara could relate to the pained look in his eyes. There was no hurt as great of that as losing your mother. The ache was a hole in your heart that could never be filled. When you lost your mother at a young age it felt like a part of you was always missing. You became trapped in an endless cycle of what if. She took Zuko's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. He looked up at her and smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

As they left the theater Zuko took Katara's hand once again. She felt the same crazy chemistry but this time she also felt a real connection to Zuko through his pain. Her family and the South Pole had been on her mind every minute since she'd left causing her to fight any positive feeling for Zuko or the Fire Nation, but seeing Hira'a through Zuko's eyes helped her feel a little less displaced and a little less homesick and made the Fire Nation feel a little less like the land of her enemies and possibly a place that she could call home one day.

Hira'a elementary school was the next stop on their tour. As they entered the school the children began to sing the Fire Nation's national anthem My flame burns for thee.

Oh, Fire Lord  
My flame burns for thee  
And for the Fire Nation endlessly  
May your flame always burn bright  
To shine upon the world our might

Oh, Fire Lord  
My flame burns for thee  
And it burns for our noble ancestry  
For you Fire Lord we shall bravely fight  
And for our nation and sun the world's guiding light

Oh, Fire Lord  
We proudly exult thee  
Truly forever and devotedly  
Your will and command is our greatest desire  
From the day we are born til the funeral pyre  
Oh, Fire Lord

There was something creepy about hearing that anthem come out of the mouth of babes. Katara thought. They had no idea what the words they were singing even meant. This was a thought that she didn't share with Zuko. It would hardly help their relationship for her to trash his country's national anthem.

After the national anthem all of the children flocked to Katara like sheep, but Zuko noted that they seemed intimidated by his presence. He wasn't surprised by this his scar usually had that effect on children. So he stood back and watched Katara interacting with the students instead. She was good with them. She patiently answered all their questions about waterbending and the South pole. She admired their art work and played whatever silly games they wanted her to play with them. It reminded Zuko of the way his mother was with him. It was nice to know that she would make a good mother to their children one day even if that day was way off into the future.

"You're really good with children." He told her on the carriage ride home.

"I love kids. Back in the South Pole I took care of a lot of children. I even delivered babies." She said. "It was amazing to watch a baby you help bring into the world grow up into a child, though not all of them got a chance too. During the lean years when there was less and less food to come by a lot of children starved to death." A visible shiver passed through Katara. "Hearing children cry for food that our village didn't have to give them scarred me for life. The hardest thing I had to do after seeing my own mother die was to watch the children in my village suffer and die because there wasn't enough food or medicine to go around."

"That must have been awful. I'm sorry that you had to live through that."

"I was lucky. I survived." Katara said. " I really don't want to talk about that anymore. I want to know why Tomoko said that your mother's ship was attacked by snow pirates."

Zuko hung his head as a feeling of deep shame washed over him. He was hoping that Katara had forgotten all about that, but she was too damn observant and didn't miss a thing. "It was a rumor started by some of the Fire Nation council. They lead people to believe that pirate ships from the Southern Water Tribe attacked my mother's ship while she was on vacation to explain away her absence after my father banished her." He didn't want to see the expression on Katara's face, but he had to look. He had to face the reality of what his country did to her and her people. Her expression was indecipherable.

"I wonder if the Southern Water Tribe's suffering will ever end. All we've ever wanted to do was live our lives peacefully but every time I turn around it seems like there's someone out there who wants to exploit us for their own gain.."

"I know it doesn't count for much, but I am sorry. I'm sorry for everything that my family has ever done to cause yours pain. To make sure the Fire Nation's history never repeats it's self isn't just a duty that you have. It's a duty we both have." Zuko said. "In fact I think it's my duty more so than yours. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that everyone in the Fire Nation and around the world knows that the Southern Water Tribe wasn't responsible for my mother's disappearance."

Katara didn't say anything. Zuko took her hand in his and she turned to look up at him. "The Fire nation created an era of fear in the world, and if I don't want the world to destroy itself, I need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness. I promise you that my reign will be nothing like my grandfathers or my father's."

Katara managed a small sad smile. "You're not like your father at all."

"No. I'm not, but I could have been. Growing up I was taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness they hate us and we deserve it!"

Katara studied his face for a long time. She bowed her head down and played with her hands before speaking. "I hated you." She said softly. "I never thought of you as anything but the Fire Lord's son. I thought that spreading war and violence and hatred was in your blood, and I hated you so much for that."

"Oh. I see."

"I don't anymore, maybe I never did, but the wounds are still there and they're still raw."

"Of course they are. I know that it's going to take time to heal." The silence the rest of the carriage ride home was deafening. He couldn't even be upset that Katara had hated him at one point because just like the rest of the world he knew that he deserved that hate. She said that she didn't hate him anymore, but how could he be sure of that? If the shoe were on the other foot he'd probably hate her. Had all of this time she'd been nice to him been an act?

As the carriage pulled up to the beach house Zuko spotted a Fire Navy officer standing on the walkway. The communication from Admiral Gee must have arrived.

"Who is that?" Katara asked.

"He must be here with the report on the situation in the South."

When the carriage pulled to a stop the officer made his way over to them. "Prince Zuko, Princess Katara, I am Commander Matsumoto, he saluted, I am here to give you an official report handed down to me from Admiral Gee."

"Thank you commander." Zuko said and took the papers.

"What does it say?" Katara wanted to know.

"Why don't we wait until we get inside before we open the report."

Katara hurriedly followed Zuko into the house and took the report from him when he took too long for her liking to open it up. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the line heavy casualties on the side of the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe and as her eyes scanned the names listed as casualties one name jumped out at her as if it had been written in blood. Bato. Once again she was directly responsible for the demise of someone she had loved dearly. Bato had been like a second father to her and now because of her he was dead.

"Are you all right? What does it say?"

The report fell from her hands and fluttered to the floor and Katara followed behind it sinking to her knees and letting the racking sobs rip from her chest. She wasn't strong enough to endure the death of another member of her family, and Bato had been family. She fell all the way to the floor pressing her face into it while a deluge of tears that seem to have no end poured from her eyes. "Oh, Bato I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Bato."

Zuko helped her to her feet but she hardly noticed him there at her side. She couldn't feel anything around her the real world had no place in her heart right now. The world that she was living in had just shattered her into a billion pieces and scattered her soul like leaves in the wind. There was nothing real or solid that she could hold onto.

"Sit down." Zuko said. A second later she felt something wet touch her face and she realized that Zuko was washing away her tears with a wet cloth.

She pushed his hands away. She didn't want his comfort. She didn't want her tears to be wiped away she wanted to let them fall until there were enough of them to drown her in her own sorrow. She wanted to cry until there was nothing left of her but the empty shell of her body.

Never again would she see Bato or hear his voice. His smile had away of making even the most hardhearted person smile, but she would never see that smile again. Bato had always been there to talk to her about the things she couldn't talk to her father with. He had taken her brother ice dodging when their father couldn't. Bato was a good soul and now he was gone too soon from the world.

"Katara I'm so-."

"Don't say you're sorry. Don't say anything to me."

"I know you're hurting."

"You, you know I'm hurting? You don't know a damn thing about me Prince Zuko. Don't you dare to pretend that you know what I'm feeling. Don't sit there and act as if there's anything that you can do for me because you can't! You can't bring back my mother and you can't bring back Bato. The only thing you can do is make promises that you'll probably never keep."

She ran from the room. From Zuko from the whole entire farce of a marriage. She threw herself on the bed and cried even harder than she had in the kitchen. Her heart felt as if it were being torn still beating from her chest. Bato is dead. Bato is dead. Bato is dead. It was all that she could think about. She had to go back to the South Pole needed to go back to the South Pole to be with her family her real family. She took a deep breath drying up her tears and marched back into the kitchen.

Zuko was still there sitting in one of the kitchen chairs and reading the war report. When he saw her angry tear streaked face glaring down at him he didn't say a word.

"I'm going back to the South Pole." She informed him. "It you have a problem with that too bad."

"I'll go with you, he said, but we'll have to go back to the Fire Nation First."

"Why?"

"We'll need more supplies. The ship we took here isn't a battle ship and we'll need to let the Fire Navy know where we're headed, and because we can take one of the airships. It will be faster."

"Fine, whatever." She snapped. She went back into the bedroom and began rotely packing a bag. The report had not said how Bato had died and maybe it was better that she didn't know. She couldn't handle knowing that his death had been slow or agonizing but the odds were that it had.

While Katara was packing her bags Zuko sought out Commander Matsumoto and told him of his plans to visit the South Pole.

"Prince Zuko I have to advise against this course of action. "As prince of the Fire Nation and future Fire Lord it isn't prudent for you to risk your life or the life of the princess needlessly. Not to mention the lives of the crew that will have to fly you into the South Pole." The commander was clearly unhappy with the idea.

Zuko didn't care he owed Katara much and this was the least that he could do for her."My mind has already been made up. Set a course for the Fire Nation and then to the South Pole."

"This isn't a war ship it's a luxury liner that has the capabilities to maybe repel a small attack, but if we were to meet any heavy resistance we'd be sitting ducks."

That was a direct order commander. Don't make me give it to you again."

"Very well your highness I'll begin preparations at once."

"It's all set." He told Katara once he met with her back inside of the house. She was no longer crying but her eyes were still rimmed with tears. He wanted to console her but he knew that if he tried he would only face her wrath. Hopefully when she was ready she would let him in. In the meantime he just had to give her space.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I do want to come. I'm your husband and my place is by your side."

"My place is by my family's side. They need me right now and I need them." Silent tears streaked their way down her cheeks.

Zuko nodded. He hated to see her cry. He hated that another war had taken away someone else she loved. "I'll go pack now and then we can board the ship to the Fire Nation and once were there we'll fly directly to the South Pole." It wouldn't be long before his plans to go to the South Pole reached his uncles ears. After the marriage ceremony he'd gone back to the Fire Nation and Zuko was grateful if not he'd be getting an earful right now. All the yelling and lectures in the world weren't going to stop him however. He was going to make sure Katara got to the South Pole if it was the last thing he did.

In the light of the full moon Zuko and Katara boarded the ship and it began to sail back to the Fire Nation. Katara stood on the deck of the ship leaning on the railing and looking up at the stars as he had done so many times while he'd been on his own ship. A ship that had been his home away from home during his banishment.

The moonlight shone down upon Katara and as Zuko walked up closer behind her he could clearly see Katara bending a stream of water into a figure eight.

"Bato made the first sled that I ever owned." She said though she didn't turn to look at him as she was talking she continued to bend the water and look up at the stars. "It was blue and he painted a polar bear dog on it. I still have that sled even though I outgrew it a long time ago."

Zuko reached out to place his hand on her shoulder but then drew his arm back. She probably just needed to talk.

"He made the best five flavor soup even better than my Gran grans'. It always made her so mad. She was certain he was adding an extra ingredient and that it didn't count as five flavor soup."

For the next few hours Katara talked about Bato while Zuko stood there listening until his eyelids grew heavy and his head began to nod.

"You're tired you should go to bed."

"Are you sure? I don't mind staying up with you."

Katara nodded. "Yes. I'd rather be alone right now."

"All right if you're sure." He said and once again he reached out to touch her and once again he pulled his arm back. Time and space. He had to learn to give her time and space.

Zuko woke up to shouting. Lots and lots of frantic shouting.

"We've taken a massive hit amidships and we're taking on too much water!"

"Commander we've taken another massive hit to the hull!"

"We're listing!"

"I can plug the hole but the ice torpedoes keep coming!" Katara shouted. "There are too many waterbenders! I can't fight them all."

"We're doing what we can Princess, but this ship was not prepared for warfare." Commander Matsumoto replied. "I must ask that you make your way to the lifeboats."

Katara! Zuko ran topside as fast as he could. It wasn't easy with the ship leaning hard to starboard.

"What's going on?" Zuko shouted.

"We're under attack." Commander Matsumoto informed him. "I don't know how but the Northern Water Tribe found us. They know Katara's on deck and they're trying to commandeer this ship."

Zuko watched as Katara tried in vein to fight back against a flotilla of Water Tribe ships.

"Your highness we must get you and the princess to safety." Commander Matsumoto yelled. "Please get her to the lifeboats at once. The crew and I will hold off the Water Tribe as long as we can."

Zuko nodded and ran to the port side of the ship where Katara was fighting against the flotilla. A group of waterbenders on outriggers were making there way towards the ship. With a series of accurately aimed fire blast he was able to put one of the outriggers out of commission, but there were far too many for him to effectively stop them from boarding the ship if that was their intent.

Commander Matsumoto and the crew were doing their part to combat the Water Tribe flotilla but without proper weaponry they were at a distinct disadvantage.

"Katara we have to go there's no way we can stop an entire fleet." Zuko warned.

"I have to try!" Katara cried.

The northern waterbenders were now standing up in the outriggers and began bending up a huge wall of water.

"No! We have to get to the lifeboats!" As the wall of water rose higher and higher Zuko grabbed Katara by the wrist and began pulling her towards the lifeboats. Katara was a lot stronger than she looked and wouldn't be budged.

"I can't. This is all my fault. I can't just abandon the crew. I have to help them"

"And I have to get you to safety. The crew will be all right this is what they're trained for, and besides once they learn you're no longer on the ship the north will stop attacking."

"You don't understand they're going to form a tsunami and I'm the only one who can stop it."

Zuko took Katara's wrist once again and tried moving her but she didn't move an inch. When he looked down at her feet he saw why. She had locked herself in place by freezing her feet to the deck of the ship. Zuko shot a small fire blast and melted the ice away and bodily lifted Katara from the ground and slung her over his shoulder.

"Zuko what are you doing? Have you lost your mind? Put me down!"

"No! I'm your husband and I told you I would protect you, and I'm going to even if that means protecting you from yourself."

Katara fought him all the way to the lifeboats kicking and punching him on the back. He was wrestling her into the lifeboat when the wall of water came crashing down. Zuko didn't have time to yell before he was swept into the waters of the Mo Ce sea. Down, down, down he sank deeper and deeper into the water. Underneath the massive blue crush of sea he couldn't hear anything but the sound of water filling his ears. The cold was such a shock to his system that he gasped and breathed in a mouthful of water. Instinctively he began to swim his way towards the surface of the water. Once he surfaced he spit out the water and drew in a choking breath as he tread the waters looking around for his ship, but he'd been pulled far away from where he first went overboard and the current was pulling him farther and farther away.

"Katara!" He cried out, but his voice hoarse from swallowing sea water didn't carry very far. "Katara!" He couldn't see anything so he kept swimming but he was growing tired and colder with every passing second and he didn't know where the Northern Water Tribe was. If they found him they would probably kill him on the spot.

"Zuko!" He heard Katara cry faintly. "Zuko!" He swam toward the sound of her voice not knowing what he'd do if he didn't find her. The more time that passed the more it seemed it would be a real possibility. Either that or he would succumb to hypothermia and drown. Bending fire was impossible when he was surrounded by nothing but water. All he could do was keep swimming and hope that he would find Katara or she would find him before the Northern Water Tribe did.


	4. Mentor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I originally only planned for this story to have seven chapters because I wrote it for Zutara Week, but once I started writing I realized I couldn't finish this in just seven chapters so I had to do more planning. Thanks to the guest who commented on my story! Your kind of comments are my favorite type. I love getting comments from people who are involved in my story. I love knowing what you think. Don't know if Jet will find his way into this story or not but anything possible. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy life to read my story. Hope you enjoy this chapter and long live Zutara!

Katara couldn't stop the tsunami but she could at least slow it down and stop it from completely crushing her and everyone else aboard the ship. She braced herself for the huge wave and when it came crashing down she parted as much of it as she could. The water she wasn't able to circumvent hit her at a slower rate, but it was still enough to sluice her over the side of the ship. She fell into the sea and immediately bent the water back creating an air pocket around her. Once she surfaced she began looking around for Zuko, the crew, and the northern waterbenders. Sending her over the side of the ship had been a strategic move on their part to separate her from everyone else. The north knew that she could hold her own out at sea, but the others they didn't care about, she was the prize they hoped to capture.

"Katara!" Came Zuko's strangled voice from somewhere across the sea. "Katara!"

If she had not been in the sea with other waterbenders Katara would have worked up some fog to create cover but that would be like a homing beacon to the Northern benders. She had to plot her next moves very carefully.

"Katara!"

She swam towards the sound of Zuko's voice. Being from the South Pole her eyes had long grown accustomed to seeing in the darkness and she made out the shape of one of the lifeboats. Katara pulled the water towards her and the lifeboat came bobbing along when it was within her reach she grasped the edges firmly and climbed onto it and began looking for Zuko once again.

"Zuko!" She called out and hoped to find him before the north did.

"Katara!"

She turned her head toward the sound of his voice and craned her neck out in search of him. His splashing alerted her to his position off in the distance. He was treading water but he look like he was struggling to stay afloat. She used her bending once again to propel the lifeboat towards Zuko as fast as she could. "I'm coming Zuko! Hang on." She called out.

He swam towards the lifeboat as she sailed it nearer to him. Once she was close enough she reached down and started to pull him up onto the lifeboat. She grabbed his hands they were as cold as ice and tugged. His waterlogged clothing seemed to make him twice as heavy and he didn't have much strength left so Katara had to dig down deep and use all of hers. She braced herself down in the lifeboat and pulled him up into it with one mighty tug. Zuko flopped up onto the lifeboat like an oversize fish.

"Thank the Spirits you're all right." He said through chattering teeth and fell backwards onto the safety of the lifeboat. He was shaking all over.

Katara began searching the lifeboat until she found a thick white blanket and wrapped it around Zuko. A few moments later he was able to sit up and he wrapped the blanket around her too.

"Did you see anyone else from the ship?"

Zuko shook his head. "But I know they're out there and so is the Northern Tribe. We've got to put as much distance between them and us as possible."

"Do you think anyone is looking for us?"

"Of course. I don't know how long it will take, but I do know reinforcements are on the way." Zuko assured her.

"That means reinforcements from the North are also on their way."

"Yeah, and here comes some now."

Sure enough three outriggers were making their way towards their lifeboat.

"We can't keep running, so if it's a fight they want then it's a fight they'll get." Katara said and stood up.

"Damn straight." Zuko said and stood up beside her. "They're going to regret attacking our ship."

Three soldiers jumped off the outriggers and began making their way towards the lifeboat on icebent surfboards. They surrounded the boat.

"Let's show them what you get when you mix fire and water." Katara said.

"What do you get?"

"Steam."

Zuko grinned wickedly. "I like the way you think agnaga."

Katara let out a spray of water and Zuko trained a column of fire at it. The two of them turned in a complete circle and the steam rolled out hitting the soldiers directly. The soldiers screamed in pain and dove into the water or fell in when their ice boards melted, but the North's assaults were relentless. Deep submergence vehicles had replaced the outriggers and they popped up from under the water like weeds.

Zuko shot fire blast after fire blast but they bounced ineffectively off the surface of the submersibles."Where do they keep coming from?"

"They must have an underwater base." Katara noted. "That's where all the submersibles are coming from."

"Shit!"

There was no way they were going to be able to fight their way out of this. Katara realized but it didn't mean that all was lost. There was always another way of doing things if one didn't give up. She formed a water whip and used it to cut off a strip of the white blanket that Zuko had wrapped around the both of them and waved it back and forth like a flag.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of this alive." Katara replied. "Do you trust me?"

"Completely."

"Good. Then follow my lead." There was no time to explain her plan to Zuko all she could do was set it into motion and pray that it had the outcome she desired. "We surrender!" She shouted. "Call off your soldiers we surrender!" Katara watched with bated breath as the submersibles moved towards them. Zuko took her hand in his and she didn't pull away. He was her husband and they were in this together.

It didn't take long for the north to completely surround their lifeboat. Each of the soldiers were equipped with ice spears and ice shields and some of them held metal weapons. They had come along way from her Gran gran's time when all they wielded were weapons of bone and wood.

"Giving in so quickly Princess Katara? This had better not be a trick."

"It isn't. We surrender, and I'll go with you wherever that is under the condition that you don't hurt Prince Zuko."

"You're not in any position to make demands upon us, princess."

"I'm who you want right? If you want to capture me alive then you will meet my demands."

"Very well. Ensign Pakak, Ohitok, secure the princess and the ash maker."

The two soldiers bent coils of rope out of water, lassoed them, and dragged the two of them onto one of the submersibles. "Try anything and we'll drown the ash maker scumbag." One of the soldier said to Katara. "Ohitok get the ropes and tie them up, and don't think you can firebend your way out of these ropes, they're fire proof."

Katara closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to stay calm as the soldier wrenched her arms behind her back and began to tie her up.

"Don't hurt her!" Zuko growled.

"Shut up burner."

"Are you O.K.?"

"I said shut up." The soldier commanded and punched Zuko in the mouth.

"Leave him alone you coward!" Katara cried. Only a coward would hit someone whose feet and hands were tied. Her anger grew even deeper as she watched blood trickle down her husband's mouth.

"What do you care what happens to him?" He kicked Zuko in the stomach and he doubled over in pain. "He's the enemy, remember? Get your priorities straight, princess."

"That's enough Ensign Pakak! It's time to take these two below."

"Yes, Captain Naalak." Ensign Pakak closed the hatch on the submersible and then began to propel them downwards with his bending. Slowly they descended beneath the surface of the sea. All around them the other submersibles were disappearing below the surface too.

Katara's hunch had been right there was a base underwater and they were going to take her and Zuko right to the source.

"What are you going to do with us?" Katara asked.

"We're taking you back to where you belong. The Northern Water Tribe." Ensign Pakak explained.

"Her home is the Southern Water Tribe."

"Did I ask you ashtray? What happens to Katara is none of your business, she's property of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Property? Excuse me, but I'm not anyone's property and my home is the Fire Nation now."

Ensign Pakak looked her up and down and his upper lip curled up like a wave. "If you had any loyalty to the Water Tribe you would have married Hahn and the two of you would have powerful heirs, so powerful that the Water Tribe Nations would never again have to suffer the tyranny of the Fire Nation."

"The Fire Nation isn't the one kidnapping me or holding my village hostage."

"Don't blame the North for you and your father's poor decisions! What we're doing is for the greater good."

"Funny, that's what my father said when he tried to take over the world."

"We're not trying to take over the world. We're trying to prevent that very thing from ever happening again." Captain Naalakk said.

"And you honestly think kidnapping me and forcing me to marry Hahn is the way to do that?"

"Yes."

Katara didn't say anything else there was no point. There was no reasoning with Captain Naalak or any of the other soldiers. Reasoning with them had not been her plan anyway.

The submersible sailed into a passageway that Katara knew to be part of an airlock. Behind them a solid metal door slammed shut sealing them inside of the large passageway. It was completely dark inside as the submersible twisted and turned along the passageways taking them further and further away from the point they had been captured. Katara wondered how many miles the passageways covered and had did no one know that this underwater base existed? After what felt like a lifetime of lifetimes they finally reach the other end of the airlock that housed a small marina. Ensign Pakak and the other northern soldiers bent the water down low enough to keep the deep submergence vehicles afloat and then opened another metal door.

"Through there and don't try anything." Captain Naalak ordered.

Another metal door opened up and Katara and Zuko were blindfolded and then stepped up onto a deck and were ushered through a long hall way and down a flight of stairs. Captain Naalak pulled off Katara's blindfold pointed to a small jail cell. "In there." Katara went in first and Zuko followed her but Captain Naalak grabbed him by the forearm. "I don't think so flame thrower."

"Where are you taking him?" Katara asked. "You said you wouldn't hurt him."

"I lied."

"Let him go!"

"Can't marry Hahn if you're already married."

"What does that mean? What are you going to do to Zuko?"

"Something that's noble to our cause, this flame thrower is going to ensure that balance is restored to the world."

"If you kill me you're signing your own execution warrant." Zuko said.

"Then it's unlucky for you that I've always been a gambling man." Captain Naalak snarked.

"Zuko!" Katara cried.

Captain Naalak dragged Zuko out of the holding cell room.

"Zuko!"

The door slammed and Katara was in total silence and darkness. Angry tears fell from her eyes. She had not expected the North to keep up their end of the bargain, but she also thought that she'd have more time to work out her plan. There was no telling what they were doing to Zuko and if she didn't hurry up and free herself she would be a widow.

Her hands were tied but the tips of her fingers were still free. She bent the tears away from her face and gathered them in her fingertips and bent her tears into a sharp single blade. After some awkward maneuvering she was able to grasp the blade and use it to start sawing through the ropes. She worked as quickly as she could and as soon as the ropes fell free she hid in the darkest corner of the cell and waited.

Zuko lie on the hard concrete floor groaning in pain. He felt as if every single bone in his body had been broken even though he was pretty sure that the only bones that were actually broken were his ribs. Pakak and Ohitok had worked him over like a speed bag while calling him every slur under the sun, but he was still alive. For now.

He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he had to do it. He had to get up and get free. Katara was depending on him and Spirits only knew what would happen to her if he couldn't free himself. For as long as he lived he would never forget how she sounded when she'd screamed his name as they were dragging him away. There had been so much anguish in her voice and it had all been for him. She had been scared for him. She cared what happened to him. "I won't let you down Katara." Zuko rocked himself back and forth until he was able to sit up. His hands and feet were tied, but he hadn't been mentored by the dragon of the west for most of his life without picking up a few tricks.

Captain Naalak had said that the ropes were fire proof and Zuko had no reason to doubt him, but surely there was something in his cell that was flammable. Power in firebending came from the breath; acknowledging that fact he braced himself for the pain he knew was sure to come. Zuko drew in a deep breath and let a flame rip forth from his mouth, and despite trying to hold it back, a cry of pain came out with his breath of fire. The fire ripped from his mouth and rolled forward igniting a wooden bench. The fire engulfed the bench until there was nothing left or nowhere for the fire to go beside up the wall. The flames crawled higher and higher until they were rolling across the ceiling.

"What in the name of Tui and La are you doing in their you crazy ass ash maker?" Ensign Ohitok shouted from his post outside of the cell door as smoke billowed out from underneath. Zuko jumped in his skin when the door was kicked open and slammed against the wall. Ensign Ohitok swept into his cell. "I have half a mind to leave you in here and let you burn alive, but that would ruin our wedding gift to Prince Hahn, Ensign Ohitok grinned down at Zuko, taking you to the North to be publicly drawn and quartered." He put out the fire and dragged him into the hallway. "You look like you're going to try anything all bets are off. I'll kill you on the spot."

Zuko lie on the floor wondering what would happen if he let out a breath of fire at Ohitok's feet. It wouldn't help him to escape but it would bring the other guards who were posted just down the hall, and if he'd caught Ohitok off guard perhaps he could catch the others off guard too. The northern guards might be tough but unlike the ropes tied around his feet they weren't fire proof. Trying something was better than sitting there and doing nothing.

"This plan is never going to work. If you had half a brain cell in that tiny head of yours you'd let me and Katara go." Zuko taunted. If he was busy running his mouth Ohitok certainly wouldn't be expecting fire to come from it. As the proverb went a barking dogs seldom bites, but as another proverb went the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and oftentimes moments occur in life and there are no proverbs, no feelings, no earthly equivalent to aptly describe it. That moment was happening to Zuko.

For reasons he or the Spirits couldn't possibly explain Ohitok listened to him. He bent down and cut Zuko's ropes away. His face was a mask of shock as if he couldn't quite comprehend why he was doing what he was doing and Zuko couldn't either. Then even more inexplicably he pressed the same knife he'd cut the ropes free with to his own neck. Ohitok's breath hitched as a small trickle of blood ran down his throat. Zuko watched with a horrified fixation as Ohitok's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open like he was playing a frighten character in a one man play, but he wasn't acting he was genuinely frightened.

At the end of the hall was a small high window. Light from the full moon spilled in from the window and through it Zuko saw a shadow move behind Ohitok. Katara stepped into his line of sight. In the moonlight the veins on her arms stood out like roots on a tree. She began to move her hands, and Ohitok who was now whimpering like a child, began to move along with Katara's movements. His movements were ungainly and rigid as if he was trying to fight back against some invisible force.

Zuko scrambled to his feet and watched bug-eyed as Katara continued to twist and contort her arms. Her fingers were claws pulling on invisible strings in the moonlight. Ohitok kept walking in that same slow rigid way down the hallway. Katara was controlling him like some kind of maleficent puppeteer Spirit. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. How? How had he not known that she had this much power? The hair on the back of his neck raised up.

Katara walked Ohitok to the cell room she'd been held in. Several of the other guards were already in the cell all of them were tied together.

"Tie him up, Zuko." Katara directed.

There were lengths of rope around her waist like a belt. Zuko took a rope from around her waist and tied Ohitok up as tight as he could. The men in the cell all wore the same look of abject horror and when they saw Katara they looked even more horrified. She opened the cell and walked Ohitok right into it.

"Now tie his feet."

Zuko didn't hesitate. When Katara shut the cell door he shot a blast of fire at the lock and melted the keyhole shut so that no one could open the door without great difficulty.

"We're leaving." She said.

Zuko could only nod.

Katara took the lead as the pair walked towards a second airlock. Zuko didn't have to ask her how she found out how to escape this underwater maze he just watched her march forward like the unstoppable force that she was. Her eyes were focused and her mouth set in a thin tight line. She gave no indication of how truly powerful she was, but somehow Zuko couldn't help but feel the power emanating from her. The bending skills that she possessed was beyond anything that he'd ever seen in his life. If she wanted to she could have easily killed him. A shiver passed through him that started at the base of his spine and ended at the top of his head.

"Where do you two think you're going?" A guard shouted.

Without breaking her stride Katara raised her arms up above her head and then off to the side as if she were flinging something away. The guard mimicked her motions by running himself head first into the wall and knocking himself out. Zuko took the ropes from around her waist and tied the guard up. They made their way to the second airlock without further incident. Luckily for the both of them there was another marina, and it too was full of deep submergence vehicles. Katara commandeered one and the silent duo made their way up to the surface of the Mo Ce sea and the submersible moved swiftly along under the starry night sky.

Tension in the air hung as thick as steam. Katara didn't say anything she just watched Zuko looking at her from the corner of her eyes. She scared him. She'd freaked him out so badly that it rendered him into silence which had become so loud she wanted to cover her ears to shut out the noise. Zuko was still looking at her; looking at her as if he was trying to figure out if she was real or not. Katara took stock of the emotions that revealed themselves on his face. Shock. Confusion. Terror. Awe and back to shock before settling into a purposely passive "I'm not judging you" expression.

"What? What was that? What you did back there? What did you do?" Zuko finally asked. His voice came out quiet and seemed lost in the darkness of the night.

Katara looked up at the moon and thought on both Hama and the moon Spirit Yue. She couldn't think of the moon without either of them coming to mind. Especially Hama for blessing her with the curse of bloodbending.

"Bloodbending. It's called bloodbending."

Even in the darkness of the night Katara could see Zuko shiver.

"So you like- you can control people? The water inside of people;inside of me?"

"Only when the moon is full." Katara wondered how Yue felt when she saw her bloodbend. Had she upset the moon Spirit because she used the moon for such a purpose? Or did she understand her dark side? She was the moon after all and she had a dark side too.

"Bloodbending." Zuko repeated and stared up at the moon. "When I first saw you do it, bloodbend, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and now that I know what is that you're doing." He shook his head. "You're amazing Katara."

"It didn't feel amazing." Katara confessed.

"So then how did you even learn that you could do that?"

"Hama. She was a Southern waterbender who escaped from the Fire Nation. She taught me."

"A Southern waterbender in the Fire Nation?"

"She was captured by the Fire Nation during the hundred year war. She and other Southern waterbenders were forced to live in wooden cages like rats. They kept the room the waterbenders were in dry and free from water. Hama told me that whenever they gave her water they chained her up so she couldn't bend. Ironically enough it was the rats she first practiced bloodbending on."

"I'm sorry." Zuko said and turned away from the moon and looked into her face. "I had no idea."

"You weren't even born yet how could you have?" She asked. "There wasn't another Fire Nation raid on my village until they found out about me."

"I don't know how you could marry me after everything my family has done to yours. No wonder you hate me."

"Hated you. I told you I don't hate you anymore and I'm not even sure if I ever did."

"Anyway, I'm glad you know how to bloodbend. It saved our lives."

Katara thought back to how she pleaded and begged Hama to stop but she wouldn't. The moment Hama found out that she was the powerful waterbender from aunt Wu's prediction her mind had been made up. She was going to pass on her life's work through her no matter the cost. Hama used her. She had used her body, soul, and mind. Sometimes Katara could still feel the ghost of Hama pulling on her. Forcing her to do her will. To carry on the curse that ended up being her salvation.

"I didn't want to learn how to bloodbend but Hama left me with no choice. It was her intent from the moment she met me. She wanted her legacy to live on through me. She wanted me to take out her vengeance on the Fire Nation for what they did to her."

"She sounds like my father. To him people are just pawns on his big chess board. What anyone else wants or feels doesn't matter so long as he gets what he wants in the end, and believe me the end always justifies his means."

"There was nothing that could have prepared me for the way I felt when Hama first bloodbent me. It was the worst feeling in the world. You know the pain you get when you're dehydrated and your muscles cramp? Well multiply that by a thousand and you're just scratching the surface of that pain. It felt like I was curling into myself and when Hama was done with me I'd be nothing but a mummified version of myself. I had no control. I was helpless in my own body and wherever Hama lead me I had to follow. She could have walked me off of a cliff and I would have not been able to stop her. That's why I hate using bloodbending against people. I know what it feels like, but sometimes I'm left with no choice."

"Hungry?" Zuko asked to change the subject.

"Yes, and I'm sure there is some food stored somewhere in this tin can." The two searched until they found the food supplies. Katara opened the box and took out the contents.

"What is this?" Zuko asked. He was holding what looked like a ball of tightly packed coarse coffee grounds.

"It's pemmican."

"What's pemmican?"

"Survival food. It's a watertribe staple made from lean meat, fat, and sometimes berries and tundra greens or as you call it seaweed."

"Is it good?"

"Depends on who makes it. The way Bato made pemmican you would think it was a delicacy." Bato was still on her mind. It was still hard for her to imagine how she was going to live the rest of her life without him in it.

Zuko didn't say anything he set about making dinner out of the supplies that had come in the box of rations and Katara helped without feeling the need to break the silence. When everything was finished the two sat down in their cramped quarters to a dinner of pemmican, rice, dried fruit, and putuligaaq.

Katara let out an excited little gasp when she saw the putuligaaq.

"What now?" Zuko asked as a curious little smile stretched across his face.

"Putuligaaq!"

"The bread?"

"It's not bread you uncultured warthog-swine. Putuligaaq is what you would consider a doughnut, oh just try it."

Zuko held up the round bread that had holes in it. Before biting into it. "No wonder why you got so excited. These taste amazing."

"They're really the best when they're fresh from the oven, but I haven't had putuligaaq in such a long time I don't care."

"All things considered I'd say this was a pretty good meal, but now that we've been freed and fed where do we go from here?" Zuko asked. "We could try to make it back to the Fire Nation or we could try to go to the South Pole. It's your call."

"You'd never make it to the South Pole. Not in your state."

"The way you're examining all of my cuts and bruises must mean I look a sorry sight, but don't worry none of my injuries are fatal." He said. "I'll heal."

Zuko, she noted, was trying to breathe as normally as possible so that she wouldn't notice that he'd broken his ribs, but Katara wasn't fooled she'd heal too many people not to notice the tell tale signs.

"If you let me help you then you'll heal even faster."

"What?"

"I have healing abilities."

"You do?"

"Yes, not all waterbenders are healers, but lucky for you I am. Now lie down."

Zuko didn't need to be told twice. He lie down on the small metal framed bed and Katara bent some water out from their supplies. It shimmered around her hands before she began to move it around his body.

Zuko shuddered and let out a moan of relief. "That feels amazing."

"They really did a number on you didn't they?"

"I'm alive and that's all that really matters isn't it?"

"You're right it is."

"Besides I've got the world's greatest healer to tend to my wounds. Do you ever think that maybe your bloodbending could be used for good? You're a healer and the most talented bender I've ever seen from any element of bending. If you combined healing and bloodbending you could help a lot of people."

"I've never thought about my bloodbending like that." Katara admitted. "I've always been scared of who I might become when I use my bending that way. I don't want to lose myself."

"You wouldn't, You won't. I know you won't, but if you did get lost I would find you."

Katara softly caressed Zuko's cheek. "You should try and get some sleep who knows how long it will be before someone comes to find us."

"What about you?"

"I'll be all right. I rise with the moon, remember? Besides I can take care of myself. You can take over the watch when you wake up."

Zuko nodded. "I have no doubts about that. If there is anyone in this universe that can handle themselves it's you, Katara."

Katara watched over Zuko until he fell asleep. Now that she was all alone and relatively safe her thoughts turned to Bato. She still couldn't believe that he was dead. If only she had been there she could have healed him. He was probably buried by now which meant that she had missed his funeral too. She buried her face in her knees and cried. If Bato had been alive he would have told her to stay in the Fire Nation. He would have never wanted her to risk her life to come to his funeral, but she knew if the shoe was on the other foot he would have done the same. That's what it was to be Southern Water Tribe you risked it all for the ones you loved dead or alive.

Katara looked at the moon from one of the windows and began to speak. "I'm so sorry that you had to die Bato, but if there's one good thing that came from this it's that I know you're with my mother right now. Please tell her that I miss her and that I love her. I love you too, Bato, and so does my mother, but I don't have to tell you that. I know she'll be both sad and happy to see you again. Take care of each other and don't worry about us down here. Even though it will be hard living without you we'll manage somehow and live on for the both of you." She bent her tears away from her face and let them flow from her fingertips into the palm of her other hand. She formed her tears into the shape of a heart and watched it as it slowly melted.

Zuko yawned and dug the sleep from his eyes. Once again in the night Katara had found her way over to him and pressed her body right up against his. Maybe she did it because she needed his heat, but still she needed something from him none the less. No one had ever needed him before. Especially not someone like Katara. He looked down at her in fascination. Controlling people through bloodbending and healing powers would her wonders ever cease? Kaito had been right the luck of the Spirits were with him on this arranged marriage. The same had been true of his father to be married to a woman like his mother, but he never learned to appreciate her. His uncle had always told him his enjoyment of life depended on his perception of life. It was a statement that he was realizing was true now more than ever.

As gently as he could he disentangled himself from Katara and opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder and out on the small platform that surrounded the submersible vessel. The Northern benders had been taken so far away from the point of their capture that Zuko had no idea where they were. Not one definable landmark was within seeing distance the only think he could see was the sky and sea. This was going to make it harder for his uncle to find him, harder but not impossible his uncle wouldn't rest nor would he allow anyone else to rest until he and Katara returned home safely.

He'd given Katara the choice of going back to the Fire Nation or going to the South Pole, and knew that she was going to choose to go to the South Pole and that was the right choice. The South Pole was where they were needed. As the future Fire Lord he had to find a way to help end this war as peacefully as possible before it got any worse and Katara lost someone else she loved. Even though the North was the one waging the war Zuko felt responsible for it and for Bato's death. The North was dead wrong he'd no doubt of that, but if his great grandfather, grandfather, and father hadn't of instilled such fear of the Fire Nation in the rest of the world the North wouldn't feel the need to create such a powerful bloodline.

He knew first hand how wrong trying to create powerful bloodline could go because it was the sole reason that his dad had married his mom and, as twisted as it was he got the logic behind it, but twisted logic is what escalated civil wars into world wars. He couldn't let that happen. Never again would he allow the Fire Nation to drag the rest of the nations into a full scale war. He'd yet to tell Katara the truth about his parent's marriage and he didn't know if he ever would. Sharing that information with her might not be that big of a deal, or it could do more harm than good. The last thing their marriage needed was another setback when he felt like they were finally getting to the point where they got along well enough to never repeat past sins of their ancestors. Making things right with the rest of the world and changing the tainted reputation of the Fire Nation was all he wanted. That and for Katara to fall in love with him the same way he was falling in love with her.

He wasn't sure when it had happened but he realized that he was falling in love with Katara. Ever since his mother had left he'd always ached for love. He longed for it more than he had longed for anything else in his life, but love always seemed to be the one thing that was unattainable to him. Then Katara came into his life and she was unlike anyone he had ever known. Her compassion and openness left him vulnerable to emotions that he'd always been scared of feeling. He was a walking contradiction. He wanted to be love and he wanted to fall in love, but the moment someone came along that could offer him both of those things he fought and fought and fought against letting love in. To be in love and then have that love taken away was worse than not having love at all, but somewhere along the line Katara had broken through his defenses and found her way right into his heart, and now that she was there he didn't want to let her go. If his uncle were here he would tell Zuko to never let her go. His uncle would say it was better to have loved and lost. His uncle was a believer in following your heart even if it meant your heart might break.

"Well uncle I followed my heart and it got us stranded in the middle of the Mo Ce sea." He sighed. "I suppose you think I've messed things up, but if I had to do it again I'd make the same decision."

He had married Katara in order to help the South stay liberated from the North, but he'd also married her to help repair the Fire Nation's, putting it mildly, damaged reputation. Getting married in front of the world while the war in the South still waged on wasn't the way to do that. Neither was having an opulent wedding when the Fire Nation needed money and the Southern Water Tribe needed supplies. It would do little to endear them to either side. What he had to do was show the world that the Fire Nation had changed and words weren't good enough the world needed to see that he backed his words up with his actions. Fighting for the South was one of the ways to show the world that his country was truly making amends. It would also show the world that they could be allies with other nations once again.

Another positive to being lost out at sea was that he'd come to his own decisions without having to weigh the input of sycophants or saboteurs. When Katara woke up he would naturally run his ideas by her but he didn't fear her input as she was neither a sycophant or a saboteur. She was never at a loss to tell him how she felt about any given situation and it was one of the things that he liked best about her, but after seeing her bloodbend he realized that there was still a whole lot that he didn't know about her, and that was another motive for him to go to the South Pole. The South Pole had made Katara who she was. It was hard not to be yourself when you had a family that loved and adored you like Katara's did. It only took a few meetings with her father to see that he thought the world of his daughter. When ever he spoke to her the pride he felt for her always showed on his face.

Zuko was a part of her family now but he wasn't family. He wasn't even sure if he knew what the meaning of family was. Now the idea of going to the South Pole seemed lonely. He wondered if Katara had a favorite thing about him. If he had to pick a favorite thing about himself he didn't know what that would be. His mother had said one of the things she loved about him was that he was someone who kept fighting, but right now he wasn't fighting hard enough. He shot a few fire blast into the sky.

"What's going on!" Katara cried popping up from the submersible hatch's opening like a jack in the box.

"It's O.K. I was just sending up signals in case there's anyone out there searching for us."

"Oh, good idea."

"So have you decided where you want to go next?" Zuko asked.

Katara opened her mouth to answer him but was drown out by the loud blast of a ship's horn.

"We've been saved!" Katara cried. "The Fire Nation found us!"

"That's not a Fire Nation ship." Zuko said.

"Well it isn't a Water Tribe ship either. Who could it be?"

"It's from the Earth Kingdom, and I know who that ship belongs to."

"Friend or foe?"

"It's a Friend." Zuko said. "See the flying boar on the ship? That's the symbol of the Beifong family they're the richest family in the Earth Kingdom and that ship belongs to Lao Beifong."


	5. Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: So very sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but I was without my laptop and my desktop computer for thee longest time which meant I didn't have access to anything I'd written for this story (or any of my other WIP). My desktop computer is still out of commission, but thankfully I have my laptop again! So here is chapter five. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**Six years earlier**

"General Iroh I'm honored that you chose to attend this meeting."

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda, but the honor is all mines."

Chief Hakoda sat down at the large round table and the General followed suit. His staff began to bring in lunch.

"I heard you are quite the tea aficionado. I hope that our tea will live up to your rather high standards."

"I have heard a great many things about the waterbending tea practices of the great Southern Water tribe, I am sure that your tea will be to my liking."

"Good. Now if we can get down to the official business of our meeting; The Steam Alliance the marriage of your nephew to my daughter. One hundred years of war and the reparations you've paid out have left the Fire Nation greatly in debt, and if the Southern Water Tribe has to keep fighting this war against the North we will be unable to sustain our way of life. Though the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation are strange bedfellows I do believe this alliance will help us more than it would hurt us."

"Yes. I can agree upon that." Iroh took a sip of tea and closed his eyes in delight. "Wonderful. Whatever waterbending techniques you are applying to the tea by all means keep doing."

Chief Hakoda chuckled. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Pardon my interrupting , please continue with the business at hand."

"Of course. There is the matter of you having no heir if you were to, may thee Spirits protect your soul, die today without a proper heir it would throw the Fire Nation into complete chaos."

"Yes. My nephew is set to become Fire Lord when he comes of age, but he will need to produce an heir and, although I don't believe a child or any person for that manner should be referred to as such, a spare."

"You already know my daughter was set to marry the Northern Chief's son, Hahn, but the more I talked with Pakku the more I gathered he instilled in Hahn that his most important duty was to produce an heir whether my daughter was ready to do so or not. Chief Pakku merely sees Katara as an incubator."

"I can see why you broke the marriage contract." Iroh said,

"Ever since Pakku learned of Madame Wu's prophecy about Katara being a waterbender of unparalleled power that is all he's been able to see when he looks at her." Hakoda's voice took on a sharp edge that was punctuated by the furrowing of his brows. "He doesn't think of her as a human being capable of her own thoughts and free will. As strong willed as Katara is I don't think I have to paint you a picture of what will happen to her if she were to move away from her home and marry into a society that views women as chattel. I respect that in the Fire Nation there is equality among the sexes."

"That is at least one good thing that the Fire Nation has going for it, eh?"

Hakoda smiled wryly. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't have my own concerns about my daughter marrying into the Fire Nation, but I do know that your nephew is not his father, nor is he anything like Pakku or Hahn."

"No he is not. My nephew has struggled. He grew up in a harsh and unforgiving environment, but he has always had good in him. He has not let his past turn him into a harsh or unforgiving person. He is not cruel. In fact Zuko behaving differently from his father is what got him banished from the Fire Nation in the first place."

"I've heard the rumors about his banishment, but I don't believe any of them, I would like to hear from you the real reason why Prince Zuko was banished."

"Naturally I blame myself. Prince Zuko wanted to sit in on a state of the nation briefing. I knew he wasn't ready for the meeting but he earnestly wanted to go because one day he would be Fire Lord and he wanted to learn all that he could as soon as he could. I warned him not to speak during the meeting as those in politics can be a bit sensitive."

"Isn't that the truth." Hakoda said and poured Iroh another cup of tea.

"For most of the meeting everything went fine and I was optimistic that the rest of the meeting would go on without incident, but that was foolish optimism on my part. When Haruya Anzai, the Minister of Education, asked Ozai to make the ideologies of Fire Lord Sozin and Azulon a compulsory part of the Fire Nation's history curriculum Zuko spoke out against the plan."

"Oh no. That can't have been good."

"My nephew loves his country dearly, but he was mortified at the thought of new generations being taught that our country was on the right side of history during the one hundred year war. Zuko was right you see, but it was not his place to speak out, and he didn't know then about his father's involvement in the neo-Azulon movement."

"So that's why he banished his only son? Unbelievable."

"Yes, but I'm afraid that is not the end of the story. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko challenging the Minister of Education was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this..." Iroh trailed off leaving Hakoda to draw his own conclusion.

Chief Hakoda shook his head."Don't tell me his father; his own father challenged his son to an agni kai?"

"That's right. Zuko declared that he was not afraid, but he misunderstood. He had spoken out against the minister's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's throne room it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected, so Zuko had to duel his own father."

"That is sick. I can't believe that Ozai is such a small minded petty little megalomaniac that he would burn and disfigure his son in an agni kai, and for what?"

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. After the duel Ozai said that by refusing to fight Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished."

"Jail is too good for that subhuman pile of garbage." Hakoda said. "Any man that could do that to his own child isn't a man at all."

"I feel the same way, but in being banished it stopped Zuko from becoming like his father."

"I suppose so, but you had a lot to do with that too."

"Yes, but Zuko did the most changing on his own. I can assure you that he will treat your daughter with nothing but the utmost respect. My nephew appears rough around the edges but all that bravado belies one of the purest hearts the world has ever seen. Believe me when I say the two will be well matched. You won't find a better ally for the Southern Water tribe than The Fire Nation and you won't find a better husband for your daughter in all the world than my nephew."

* * *

"Lao Beifong? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"He owns the Earthen Fire Refinery."

"Oh, well no wonder why he's so rich."

Zuko shot more fireballs into the sky and the ship gave out another bone rattling blast of it's horn.

Katara propelled the submersible towards the ship just as a dinghy was being lowered into the water. The two watercrafts met up and the crew from the Beifong's ship helped them on to the dinghy. The dinghy was raised back up to the ship.

"Prince Zuko, Princess Katara it's an honor to have you aboard the S.S.S Golden Gaoling. I'm Captain Li Na Beifong." Li Na was wearing Earth Kingdom fatigues. She was muscular and towered over both Zuko and Katara giving off quite the commanding presence.

"You're Lao's niece right?" Zuko asked.

Li Na nodded and her short ponytail bobbed up and down between her shoulder blades.

"Thank you for rescuing us." Katara said.

"You are welcome. If you don't mind my asking what were the two of you doing out in the middle of the Mo ce sea?"

"We were on our way to the South Pole when we were attacked by the North. Can you send a communication to the Fire Nation at once to let them know about our whereabouts and get the status on Admiral Matsumoto and the rest of the crew."

"Right away Prince Zuko."

"Is Lao or Toph aboard this ship?"

"No. I'm on a recovery mission on my uncle's behalf. My crew and I are hoping to find out who it is that's been stealing from his refinery."

"What was stolen?" Zuko asked.

"Metal. A lot of metal was stolen from Lao's iron refinery, Qiáng Tiě. It was the only refinery of Lao's to be hit. The thefts have been going on for quite some time but so far we've been unable to catch the culprit. Lao suspects it might be someone from the inside."

"When Zuko and I were captured we were taken to an underwater base that had an airlock with passageways that were made of metal. The passageways went on for miles whoever built them would have required a lot of metal."

Li Na stroked her chin. "Yes they would, but I can't see northern benders being able to take that much metal from the refinery without anyone noticing. I think Lao is right some one that works for him must have helped the north if they are indeed the thieves."

"The Fire Nation has an exclusive contract with the Qiáng Tiě refinery." Zuko explained. "It's the biggest iron refinery in the four nations I doubt that any other refinery could produce the amount of metal needed for what we saw when we were captured in that underwater base. If I had to guess who the culprit was it would be the north, but the question is why?"

"We need to go back." Katara said. "Back to the underwater base."

"What!?"

Katara turned to face Zuko."Don't say what like that."

"How else am I supposed to say it when you come up with such a stupid idea?"

"It's not stupid. Think about it Zuko, Lao probably has a way to identify his metal in case it ever got stolen."

"Right! So if we go back there we could find out if it was taken from the Qiáng Tiě refinery."

"Captain Li Na is there a way of telling if the metal came from the Qiáng Tiě refinery?" Katara asked.

"Yes. All of the metal is branded with a firemark that can be seen when you pass a flame over it. The flame has to be heated to a certain degree and only people who work for the Qiáng Tiě refinery know that temperature."

"Are you sure you want to do this Katara?" Zuko asked. "You don't have to. I know how badly you want to go to the South Pole and be with your family."

Katara closed her eyes and a moment later tears tracked their way down her face. "As much as I love Bato and as much as I would love to go back home I'm needed here. It's the best way to help the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation."

"If both of you are sure that you want to help recover the stolen metal I'll be more than happy to take you to Lao's house. We can fill my uncle in on the latest developments. I'm sure he will assist you in anyway he can, but first the two of you should rest and recover. It looks as though you've been through a lot."

Katara took a deep shuddering breath. "We'd like that very much thank you."

"Well then I'll send the communication out to the Fire Nation and we can be on our way." After sending out the communication Li Na came back and showed them to their private quarters. "We won't reach landfall until the morning so you two can sleep here. "This is our finest and best quarters, and I've also laid out a change of clothes. Sorry they're only fatigues but it's all we have."

"That's O.K. I really appreciate everything you're doing for us." Katara said.

"Well it's not everyday you get a visit from royalty. Dinner will be served at eighteen hundred hours. Take care your majesties." Captain Li Na bowed and then left.

Zuko sat down on the bed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about the North attacking us. It's a serious offense that I can't let go unpunished, but I can't expect the rest of the world to get involved, so if I go after the North on my own how much force do I need to come at them with? I'm not Fire Lord yet, but the whole world is watching every move I make to see what kind of Fire Lord I'll become."

"We can figure it out together. Let's talk to Lao first and see what he has to say and then we'll go and see if it's the North who took the metal, and if it is we'll go from there." Katara said and sat down besides him.

"Did you know that Lao's daughter invented metal bending?"

"Really?"

"Yes. Toph is an amazing earthbender."

"So what's she like?"

Zuko laughed. "Toph is well Toph. She's blind but she never let that stop her from doing pretty much anything. You wouldn't even know she's blind when you see her bend."

"I wonder who taught her to earthbend? It couldn't have been easy with her being blind."

"Badger moles."

"Badger moles? That is amazing. Toph sounds interesting."

"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe her. Toph is stubborn and unmovable as a mountain and loud as an avalanche, but she's always been a good friend to me. It'll be good to see her again. She's the little sister I wish I had. I love my sister but sometimes she makes it hard. Most of the time she makes it hard."

"Well I _was_ looking forward to meeting your sister."

"If Azula had been allowed to get away from home and my father like I did I don't think she'd be the way she is now, but she's always been my father's favorite he'd never send her away."

"Why did your father send you away?"

"I spoke up about doing the right thing at the wrong time."

Katara watched Zuko's eyes as they traveled through time back to the day he was sent away. She had willingly left home and that had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done in her life she couldn't imagine how it would feel to be sent away from home against your will by the person who supposedly loved you.

"I don't think there's ever a wrong time to speak out about the right thing. Sounds like the only thing you did was say it to the wrong person."

"Thanks."

"What is Lao Beifong like?"

"He's a decent guy. He cares about his family. His wife Poppy is an elegant noble woman you'll probably like her a lot."

"What does that mean?"

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know. I just mean you're elegant like Poppy. She always looks nice and always knows the right things to do and say in social settings like you do."

"I don't always know the right thing to say."

"Yes you do." Zuko countered. "It's a good thing a Fire Lady should be diplomatic."

"Diplomacy isn't going to help us out of this situation."

"No, but it can't hurt. My uncle says a little diplomacy goes a long way."

"Besides your mom your uncle is the only family member that I've heard you talk favorably about."

"You already know that my father is a monster, and where my sister is concerned the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My uncle is the only honorable family member I have left."

"No he's not. You have my family which means you've got my father, my brother, and my gran gran."

Zuko smiled. "Never had a brother or a Gran gran before least not a Gran gran that I remember."

"You're in lucky then because as it happens my brother and Gran gran are the best there is. After all this is over with we can finally go to the South and you can meet them. I only wish it was under happier circumstances."

"So do I."

"I try not to think about him too much, but the more I try not to think about Bato the more I think about him." Katara buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "I was so upset before I wasn't thinking straight. No matter how upset I was I should have never demanded you take me back to the South. Now Admiral Matsumoto and his crew are missing and it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault Katara. I don't know where the Admiral or his crew are but if they're out there I'll find them. I promise."

His words couldn't shut up the voice telling her that if Admiral Matsumoto and his crew were dead it was all her fault. They had families and loved ones who would have to hear the news that no one ever wanted to hear. Her being in pain didn't excuse her causing pain to others, and if she had caused others pain she didn't know how she was going to forgive herself.

"Dinner is in twenty minutes do you feel like going out and eating with everyone else? If not I could bring your dinner to you and we can eat in our room."

"Thanks, but I think I'll feel better if I went out and ate dinner with everyone else. I'm going to take a shower and change before dinner." Katara kept hoping that changing in front of Zuko would get easier but so far it wasn't. He was still enough of a stranger to make intimate little things like changing feel awkward so she took her fatigues with her and got dressed in the small bathroom.

While Zuko showered she turned down the bed so that it would be ready for them when they got back from dinner. It was a lot smaller than the one they had back in Hira'a but it didn't matter somehow she always ended up snuggled up next to Zuko who was always warmer than she was. It reminded her of how fire and warmth were so important to the South. Without fire to create light or heat there was no life.

Zuko had gotten dressed in the bathroom too but he might as well have been in his towel as he stepped into their room with wet hair and well fitting fatigues.

"You're staring."

"Oh. Sorry. It's just that you look really good in those fatigues." She admitted.

"Oh, uh thanks." He gave a slow shy smile. "You look good too, but you always look good in everything."

"Thank you uiga." Katara said and took his hand and headed to the deck of the ship.

Dinner was delicious. Li Na's friend Aimi caught several fish and they had the fresh fried fish for dinner.

"I'm the best fisher in my village, maybe even the Earth Kingdom, probably the whole world." Aimi said.

"Forgive Aimi she doesn't do modesty." Li Na explained.

Aimi waved her hand back and forth. "Life is too short not to celebrate yourself. If you can do it well wear it well. I say."

"I like that." Katara said. "That's a good saying."

"I'm full of them."

"Oh, you're full of something, but it's not sayings."

"May I introduce you to Suki the comedy queen of Kyoshi Island." Aimi said.

"If you can do it well wear it well." Suki quipped.

Aimi stuck out her tongue and narrowed her eyes at Suki. "I do not like you."

Katara sat back in her chair and relaxed a little. It was a perfect day for sailing. The winds and the sea were calm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but still the day was warm enough to enjoy without the sun making the warmth feel unbearable.

"I still can't believe that you were attacked by the Northern Water Tribe, I never thought I'd live to see a civil war between the two Water Tribes." Suki said.

"I never thought I would either." Katara admitted. "Things were great when Chief Arnook was ruling the North, but when Pakku took over so did his elitist ideas about the North. He was one of the biggest opponents of the South's independence."

"Is that why he's waging war against his fellow tribe?" Li Na asked.

"It's one of his reasons." She wasn't about to get into the whole broken marriage contract. "Arnook was changing things giving women more power, but Pakku is all about tradition to him the old ways are the only way."

"Why did Arnook step down?"

"It was more that he was forced to step down. After their daughter died Arnook and his wife, Nerrivik went into a deep grief, but when you're a royal you have to have an heir and a spare. They tried but Nerrivik was unable to get pregnant again. She had four miscarriages in a row and they took their toll on her and Arnook. When it looked like they weren't going to be able to produce another heir Pakku started a smear campaign against them. He pointed out to anyone who would listen that their grief and depression made them unfit to rule. He played on the north's fear about having a ruling Chief that couldn't produce an heir to his advantage, and he knew that Arnook and Nerrivik were at such a low point they wouldn't fight him to keep the throne."

"Wait, I thought Arnook and Pakku were brothers." Li Na said.

"They are." Katara answered.

"So how could Pakku do that to Arnook?" Aimi wanted to know.

"Pakku is an arrogant asshole who thinks he alone knows what's best for the Water Tribes, but he doesn't. He says he wants to keep the traditions of the Water Tribe alive, but he's a liar. He's keeping everything the same because that's the easiest way for him to control people his brother included."

"That's so awful." Suki cried.

"But it's not the way it has to be." Zuko replied. "Pakku has already kidnapped us and if we can prove that he's behind the thefts from Lao's company I know we can convince King Kuei that all the nations need policing."

Aimi arched one eyebrow."Uh, what?"

"Yeah, Li Na added, what are you talking about?"

"I'm going to request an audience with King Kuei to see if he would be interested in officially forming a united peace council. With his help I think we can get all four nations together to draw up a peace treaty that everyone agrees on."

"Zuko that's an excellent idea." Katara said.

"Seems mighty ambitious." Suki said.

"What's the point of being in power if your not going to use that power to make the world a better place?" Katara asked. "Helping to make a change in the world is not only our responsibility it's our duty."

"That means you'll have to remove Pakku from the throne." Li Na said. "There's no way you could ever draw up any kind of peace treaty with him on the throne."

"After we draw up formal charges against him I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"Do you really think that King Kuei will go for it?" Suki asked. "He's been pretty adamant about keeping Ba Sing Se free from any more wars."

"He is a fool if he thinks he can keep Ba Sing Se from another war." Zuko said. "I don't want another war to ever happen again but that's not a realistic expectation especially for a country as large as the Earth Kingdom. At least with a peace treaty in place there will be clear lines drawn so that if and when someone violates them every nation can agree on how we should deal with their violation."

"I like that." Li Na said. "You're going to make a good Fire Lord."

"Thank you. Now I only need to convince the rest of the world."

"We will, Zuko, Katara said. We will."

* * *

As Zuko watched the sun rising from the deck of Lao Beifong's ship he was comforted in the fact that back in the Fire Nation palace his uncle was up with a cup of tea doing the same thing. At the same time he was worried about what Azula might be doing. She was out of sight but not out of his mind. He had no doubt that she was using his absence to try and take back the throne. She had attacked their uncle once before and there was nothing to stop her from trying to do it again or hiring someone else to do it for her. Azula would do her best to undo all the efforts he was putting forth to change the reputation of the Fire Nation. He wondered how best to reach her if she was even reachable. He didn't want to think of his sister as a lost cause. What if his uncle had thought of him as a lost cause? Where would he be?

That however was one problem he didn't want Katara to be caught in the middle of, but just as her family was his family his was hers, and she now had to contend with his relatives and all the issues that came along with them. A missing mother, a jailed father, and an embittered sister. The only saving grace was his uncle.

"There you are." Came Katara's voice from behind him. "I woke up and you were gone."

"Sorry. I didn't want to wake you."

Katara stuck out her bottom lip. "I can't sleep when you're not there."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Is that so hard to believe?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the sky. It was better than looking at Katara and confirming that he was an open book. "I don't know I thought maybe you needed the heat."

"I do, Katara answered truthfully, but it isn't just the heat it's the person providing the heat."

He didn't know what to say about that so he turned to look at her through his eyelashes.

"You're not used to hearing people say nice things to you are you?"

He shrugged.

Katara put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin in order to look him directly in his eyes. "Well that's going to change."

Zuko felt a stupid grin spread across his face and made no effort to stop it. He couldn't believe how enthusiastic she was about making him feel good about himself.

"Prince Zuko. Princess Katara. I have a communication from your uncle the regent Fire Lord." Li Na said. She handed over a letter.

Zuko opened it up and smiled when he saw his uncle's familiar handwriting.

"What does it say?" Katara wanted to know.

"My uncle says he's glad we're all right and that we should continue on with our mission. He's managing to hold things down in the Fire Nation. I should have known he would be more than capable."

"What about Admiral Matsumoto and his crew? Have they been found yet?"

"No. I'm afraid they're still lost at sea."

Katara gasped. "No! This is all my fault."

"Don't think the worst." Zuko told her.

"He's right." Li Na added. "The Mo Ce sea is huge. It could take weeks to find the crew, and just because they haven't been found yet doesn't mean that they won't be found alive."

Katara wasn't convinced. She was sure that Admiral Matsumoto and his crew were all dead. She was only sixteen years old, but in those sixteen years she'd seen much horror, carnage, and death. All she could think about was the bloated waterlogged bodies being fished out of the Mo Ce sea and the families that would have to identify them. All of that was on her and her alone. Just as was Bato's death and her mother's. A wave of warmth came over her and the taste of bile flooded her mouth. She retched as she clutched her heaving stomach and ran over to the edge of the ship on wobbly legs and was sick over the side while Zuko held her hair back.

When she was done being sick she leaned back against Zuko and rested in his arms and closed her eyes.

"We'll be reaching land shortly." Li Na said softly and placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. "Will you be needing anything?"

"No, but thanks." Zuko said. "I'll take her to our quarters to freshen up. Please let me know the moment we've reached our destination."

"Of course your majesties." Li Na said and bowed out.

"You don't need to take me back to our room, Zuko. I can manage by myself."

"OK." Zuko said. He wasn't entirely sure if she should be by herself, but still he watched her go.

After Katara finished washing her face and brushing her teeth she sat on the edge of her bed taking advantage of her time alone to think. She was anxious to get to the bottom of the metal thefts because the sooner they found out who stole the metal the sooner they could find out what the thieves were up to, and that might uncover a clue that would help find out what happened to Admiral Matsumoto and his crew. No one could just vanish into thin air unless the Spirits were involved and she was sure they hadn't been. There had to be some kind of clue she was overlooking some tell tale sign she'd ignored. Katara racked her brain as she thought back to that night. It had been smooth sailing until the north showed up and then everything dissolved into pure chaos when the benders had sailed up on outriggers and tried to board the ship. Of course! It was so obvious that Katara couldn't believe that she hadn't of thought of it before now. She popped up off of the bed and ran out onto the deck.

"Zuko, the Outriggers!"

"What?" Zuko took his hands off of the railing and spun around to face Katara.

"The Northern benders were using outriggers, but they aren't a mode of transportation used by the Northern or Southern Water Tribe. I'm not too familiar with what method of transportation the people of Hira'a use, but an outrigger makes more sense for a warmer climate to use."

"You're right they are a part of Hira'a's culture. A huge part." Zuko acknowledged. "I don't know why I didn't think of that until before now."

"Because we were under attack and worrying about outriggers wasn't exactly a top priority."

"I guess not, but what do you think it means?"

Katara shrugged. "I don't know yet, but maybe it means that someone from Hira'a is helping the North."

"But why? Hira'a is still a part of the Fire Nation and I can't see the Northern Water Tribe working with the Fire Nation."

"I can't either, but I don't know any other explanation." She sighed. "The more we find out the less we find out we know, but I know that together we'll figure this out."

"Before it's too late? That underwater base was elaborate and you don't make something that elaborate unless you plan to use it." Zuko ran his fingers through his hair. "The fact that they were able to pull this off under everyone's noses means that they're already several steps ahead of us. Whatever they planned could happen tomorrow or could already be happening."

"No. I don't think they planned on us escaping." Katara reasoned. "That's got to have slowed them down or at least forced them to change their plans, and now they know that we'll be looking for them."

"We've reached land, your majesties." Li Na announced.

"Thank you." Katara said.

"I couldn't get a carriage but there is a ostrich horse stable near by. If your majesties don't object we can ride out to my uncle's house."

"That's fine with me." Zuko said and then turned to Katara. "How do you feel about it?"

"I don't know how to ride an ostrich horse."

"Don't worry about it you can ride behind me."

Katara stretched out before they began their walk to the stable. The smell of the stable greeted her long before they came upon it causing Katara to wrinkle her nose against the smell.

"You get used to it after awhile." Zuko informed her.

Katara very much doubted that. Zuko brought supplies, food stuffs, and water from the little general store attached to the stable and then rented the ostrich horses for their group. He lead their ostrich horse over to where Katara was standing.

"Go ahead and pet her." Zuko said. "Despite their size they're very gentle animals."

Katara lifted her hand slowly and reached out to pet the coarse brown feathers. "What's her name?"

"Mo Chou." Zuko said and adroitly mounted the horse and then held his hand out to Katara.

She took his hand and he pulled her up onto their mount as if she weighed no more than a feather. Katara felt her cheeks heat up as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Once again she was struck by the contrast in their marital relationship; they were strangers but there were times like now where she felt like she'd known Zuko for years that they were connected beyond the marriage they'd been forced into. It was foolish to keep thinking that way, but it was a thought that would not leave her mind.

They rode for most of the morning. A pleasant breeze stirred across the vast fields of the Earth Kingdom pushing a string of clouds across the sun. Katara watched fire-dragonflies dart around and lit on puddles of water. Prairie gopher squirrels came out of their holes in the ground and gamboled across the grassy stretch of land. It was amazing how open the Earth Kingdom felt. The land stretched on and on for miles in any direction. Looking across the plains gave Katara the feeling of eternity; that no matter what direction they went in the land would keep going on and on with no sign of civilization in sight just the endless plains and the sky that seemed bluer and bigger than she'd seen it anywhere else in the world.

At midday the group stopped to water the ostrich horses and have lunch.

"Katara was able to slide off of Mo Chou without Zuko's help but as she walked around she felt as if she were still riding.

Zuko laughed at her bow legged walk.

"Don't laugh! Walking around on the land feels weird after being on "Mo Chou for so long."

"You'll get your saddle legs before too long, princess." Li Na assured her.

Suki spread out a blanket and began unpacking the food that Zuko brought.

Katara settled down on the blanket next to Zuko and helped herself to a moon peach. "How much longer before we reach Lao's?"

"A little under an hour." Li Na said.

"That means we should reach his place while there's still plenty of daylight left, so we can relax here for a little while." Katara said and watched Zuko take his bread crust and crumble them up near an anthill. The little ways in which he was thoughtful made her smile.

"Less than an hour and you'll finally meet Toph." Zuko said. "I hope you're ready."

"I don't think anyone can ever be ready for that experience." Aimi said.

"I don't know whether to be scared or excited."

"Both." Zuko said. "How has Toph been, Li Na?"

"I think I'll let my uncle fill you in. There's a lot to tell."

"And Lao won't mind all of us showing up like this?" Katara asked.

"No. I sent a messenger hawk ahead of us so he knows we're coming, besides my uncle will be thrilled to be visited by the future Fire Lord and Lady."

"I think Lao's known me way too long to think of me as a Fire Lord. He probably still thinks of me as that goofy little kid running around and playing with his swords pretending to be a Dragon Emperor."

"Aww, I'll bet you looked so cute." Katara cooed.

Zuko scowled. "We should start heading out. I'm sure the ostrich horses have had enough to drink by now."

Katara giggled and held out the saddle bag for Aimi to pack up the leftover food into.

"How do you plan on getting back into the underwater base?" Aimi wanted to know. "Even with Lao helping it won't be as easy as just knocking on the door and asking to be let in."

"I was planning on asking Toph for her help. She invented metalbending so being able to get into the base wouldn't be a problem for her. The main problem is how do we get in without being detected." Zuko mused.

"If you can remember where the base was we can do a stakeout. Once we know their comings and goings we can plan accordingly." Li Na said.

"That's right you'll have the full support of the Kyoshi warriors too." Suki said.

Katara buckled up the saddlebag and Zuko took it from her and secured it onto the back of Mo Chou. He helped her up into the saddle and the group was off again. She grew more accustomed to the jolting feeling that riding created, but she still couldn't wait to get off the back of Mo Chou, so it was a great relief when Li Na announced that they had arrived at the Beifong estate.

There were two guards posted at the front gate that bore a symbol of a flying boar. Upon seeing Li Na the guards let them inside of the estate's walls.

"It's amazing." Katara breathed out. Stone footpaths divided the immaculate lawn. All the trees within the grounds were perfectly pruned. There was a small pagoda that was the perfect place to escape to when there was too much sun. A footbridge that crossed over a large pond was situated closer to the house. The actual Beifong manor set at the back of the gated estate; taking it all in was like viewing a work of art.

"I swear this estate has more wings than an aviary." Aimi noted.

A part from the main manor Katara counted six separate buildings one of them was the stable. The stable hands came out from the stable to board their ostrich horses

"To me it feels like a second home." Zuko said. "More of a home than the palace."

"One man's home is another person's prison." Li Na said.

"What does that mean?" Katara wanted to know.

"Nothing that you won't find out soon enough."

As the group walked into the grand foyer they were met by Lao and Poppy Beifong. Katara had never seen such well dressed people in her life. In fact Poppy seemed almost too elegant to be real.

"Prince Zuko and Princess Katara what a privilege it is to have you grace our estate with your presence." Poppy said and bowed.

"You don't have to bother with the formalities, please." Zuko said. I'd like to have one place where I can just be Zuko, so where is Toph?"

"I'm afraid Toph has run away from home again." Lao said.

Katara looked from Lao to Poppy. "Again?"

"She first ran away from home when she was twelve years old. We hired two men to bring her back but I'm afraid that only made everything that much worse." Poppy dabbed her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "Now I don't know if our sweet little Toph will ever come home."

The corner of Zuko's mouth twitched. He had a hard time thinking of Toph as sweet, and while she was little in stature everything else about Toph was as big as a mountain.

"I'm sure Toph will come back home." Katara said. "She probably just needs some time to think things over on her own, but once she realizes how much she misses home she'll want to come back."

"Oh, I do hope you're right Katara."

Katara took Poppy's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. "You'll see just give her time."

Zuko wasn't sure about that. Katara didn't know Toph the way he did and she didn't know how stubborn Toph could be. She'd run away from home once and had to be brought back the fact that she'd runaway again didn't leave him with an optimistic feeling that she would be coming home anytime soon with a song in her heart and an apology on her lips. Maybe while he was out looking for the thieves he could also look for Toph. She was fully capable of looking after herself but that didn't mean she wasn't lonely out there on her own and he knew what it was to be lonely. If he hadn't of had his uncle to look after him when he'd been banished from home he didn't know what would have happened to him, but it wouldn't have been good.

"How about we have the servants show you to your rooms?" Lao said. "After you've freshened up we can meet up and discuss the situation of my missing metal."

"Are any of you hungry? If so we can have the chef prepare something for you." Poppy said.

"No. We already ate, but thank you for asking." Katara said. "We'll just go freshen up and then get down to business."

"Good. I'll see you shortly." Lao said.

The servants showed everyone to their room. He and Katara were given the biggest and best room. Usually Zuko liked to sleep in one of the smaller simpler rooms, but he thought that Katara would enjoy the master guest suite.

"How do you like Beifong estate so far?"

"It's beautiful I can see why you like it here, but I guess Toph didn't or else why did she run away two times?"

"Her parents are very overprotective all her life they've tried to keep Toph from the world when all she's ever wanted to do is go out into the world and kick its ass. it's something that's always been a point of contention between the three of them. That time that Toph ran away at twelve was to join Earth Rumble VI she won the entire tournament, her earthbending is that good."

Katara's mouth dropped open. "She won Earth Rumble VI at twelve years old? If she's that good why do her parents think she needs protecting?"

"I don't know. Maybe they feel they're to blame for Toph being born blind like somehow they didn't do enough to protect her, and if they let her out in the world now she'll only get hurt worse."

"Do you think she'll ever come back home?"

"Honestly, no."

"That's terrible. If she loves her parents at all she has to be missing them."

"It's funny Toph's parents can't accept her for who she is, but they still love her and would do anything to have her come back home again, but she doesn't want to. My father can't accept me for who I am and did everything within his power to banish me indefinitely, but I wanted to come back home more than anything else."

"We should try and find her and talk to her." Katara said. "She's only fourteen and no matter how tough she is I know that she misses her home and her parents."

"I know. I plan on looking for her while we try to recover her father's metal, but you don't know Toph like I do. When she feels slighted she becomes even more stubborn than she usually is and believe me that's quite a feat."

"I think we're up to the challenge."

"I do too. Let's get freshened up and get going."

After Zuko and Katara made themselves presentable they met Lao in his office. The crew of the S.S.S Golden Gaoling and a young man that Zuko didn't recognize were already sat around a long conference table. A servant poured everyone a cup of tea and then exited from the room.

"I guess I should start." Zuko said and recalled the story of their ordeal for Lao.

Lao steepled his fingers under his chin. "Well the Northern benders using outriggers proves my theory that the metal thieves are getting inside help. My partner Loban is a Fire Nation citizen I'll ask him if he's noticed anything untoward among the employees."

"Why isn't Loban here this concerns him too." Zuko said.

"He had some business to attend in Cranefish Town, but his nephew Satoru is here to fill in on his behalf."

Satoru stood and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you your highnesses."

"It's just Zuko." He informed Satoru and motioned for him to sit down.

"So that just leaves the matter of finding my uncle's metal and the dirtbags responsible for taking it." Li Na said

"I know a factory in Hira'a where they make outriggers I can give the place a visit." Satoru offered. "If I ask some questions I might get some answers."

"That's a good idea, but you shouldn't go by yourself." Katara said. "It could be dangerous."

"Oh it will be dangerous so I'll go with him." Aimi volunteered.

"While the two of you are doing that Zuko, Katara, and I will try and find the underwater base." Suki said.

"That leaves me to stay here in Gaoling to poke around the Qiáng Tiě refinery." Li Na said. "But don't worry I'll take the other Kyoshi warriors with me."

Zuko stood up to address the room. "We'll head out tomorrow and then meet back here at the end of the day to discuss what we've found."

"Uuh, what if our business takes longer than a day?" Satoru asked.

"If it does you can send a message back to my estate. I have more than enough messenger hawks for each group to take one with them before they go. I'll be waiting here so any messages you send out I'll receive." Lao said.

Zuko started for his room with Katara following behind him, but Suki stopped them before either of them could get there.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how do you plan on getting into the underwater base without Toph?"

"I'm going to go looking for Toph, and not just to ask her to help us but because she's my friend. The only trouble is I don't even know where to begin looking."

"I do."

Zuko, Katara, and Suki all spun around in unison and stared at Satoru.

"You do, how?" Zuko asked.

Satoru lowered his voice. "I used to be a run away and when I was living on the streets of the Lower Ring in Ba Sing Se I ran into Toph and we became friends. She's staying with some friends of mines. If you promise not to tell her parents where she is I can take you to her."

"As the prince of the Fire Nation and future Fire Lord you have my promise." Zuko said.


	6. Found

Zuko kneeled and inhaled and then exhaled slowly. Breath control was the first lesson you learned as a firebender. The second was control of the flame. Zuko thought back to all the hours his firebending teacher made him keep the flame burning on a candle without melting the wax. Control and power. That's what it was all about. He could take General Anzai in the agni kai. The general was old, slow, and battle worn. He did not have as much control as he once did and his bending lacked power. He couldn't lose.

Though his heart was pounding fast he was not scared. He was not excited either he was ready to show his father how much his firebending had improved, and Azula too. They would see finally that he was not weak and that his ideas had merit. After this his father would honor him in the same way that he honored Azula. He rose to his feet ready to fight. This would be a short agni kai he was sure of it. He turned to face his opponent and saw not General Anzai, but The Fire Lord. His father. Zuko's breath caught in his throat. There had to be some mistake. Surely his father didn't expect him to duel against him in an agni kai.

"Please, father, I only had the fire nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"

"You will fight for your honor."

This was a nightmare and any minute now he'd wake up. Or perhaps a test of loyalty. Yes, that had to be it. All his father wanted from him was an act of contrition to make up for the way he'd disrespected him. Once his father saw how sorry he truly was all of this would be over. "I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son." He lowered himself to the ground kowtowing before his father in complete supplication.

"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!"

"I won't fight you." He couldn't fight his father, and not just because his father could out bend him, but because it was his father. How could he even think of bending at him? What if he burned him? He couldn't and wouldn't do that to his own father and he refused to believe that his father would do that to him.

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

Crying was the trait of a weak and shameful person he knew it, but no matter how hard he fought against them the tears still came.

"Zuko! Zuko! Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

Zuko blinked several times as the sights and sounds of Ba Sing Se slowly came back to him as if he were looking through a pair of binoculars that were slowly coming into focus. He wondered how long he been lost to his memory because he felt as if he'd been lifted out of a dark cave he'd been living in for weeks.

"I'm fine Katara."

"Are you sure?" I was calling your name for awhile."

She looked scared for him. He could see it in her eyes that she thought he was some poor fragile thing and any second now he would completely break down.

"I told you I'm fine!" He snapped.

"Then can we get going." She snapped back.

He sighed. Great now he'd made her angry. "Look just stay close to me and keep an eye on your surroundings." Zuko instructed. "The moment you let your guard down is the moment you get hurt."

He had a love hate relationship with Ba Sing Se. It wasn't long ago that he was among one of the nameless faceless people who walked the streets in the city of walls and secrets, and everyone in the city had secrets. Secrets of their own that they'd like to forget, but it was a futile effort secrets were like the past; you couldn't forget them any more than you could out run them. Ba Sing Se held the secrets of the highest and lowest moments of his past life, and now that it was nearing the anniversary of his banishment from the Fire Nation all of those secret memories he'd like to forget were flooding back into his brain.

A week after he had been banished he managed to sneak back into the Fire Nation only to find every square inch of the country had been plastered with posters declaring him a traitor and the number one enemy threat to the Fire Nation. Anyone found aiding or abetting him would face a life sentence in the boiling rock. Seeing those posters was like being burned all over again. His father had made sure that he'd never be able to return home. Zuko stood there staring at the poster for so long that an angry mob had almost over taken him. He had to run for his life and if it wasn't for his uncle he would have never gotten out of the Fire Nation in one piece.

After escaping the Fire Nation he'd sailed aimlessly around the world for a year until his scrap heap of a ship had broken down forcing him onto dry land. He and his uncle ended up in Ba Sing Se lost among the other refugees seeking shelter and asylum within the walls of the city. With no money and no identification and none of the power or influence that used to open doors for them they had to eke out a living in the Lower Ring. His new life was the complete opposite to the old life that he was used to living. He had hated it at first; hated everything about the city the noises, the smells, and the never ending stream of people. He hated having to work his fingers to the bone in a tea shop all day only to be given a pittance that didn't even come close to paying for all of the things that he and his uncle needed.

Everyday his resentment and self pity about his living conditions grew until his uncle, who was probably sick of his bitching, but had the good grace not to let on, told him that life happened wherever you were and it happened whether you made something of it or not. Once he accepted that what his uncle was telling him was the truth he got used to his new life and some days he even enjoyed his life, but Ba Sing Se wasn't home and he realized that even if his wish did come true and he finally did get to return home one day nothing about it would ever feel the same again.

Katara had never been to the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se before; her first time was certainly an eye opening experience. Viewing the city was like viewing the scene of an accident there was something fascinating and horrifying about it all at once. Houses and buildings were so close together that if one chose they could reach right out and touch their neighbor through their open windows. No one owned a proper yard just strips of grass; if the owners were lucky there might be a small tree growing on their property. Everywhere Katara looked there was something to see. Laundry hung from balconies and rooftops. Livestock was paraded up and down the streets. Several elderly ladies were cooking food in squat little stone fire pits right on the edge of their property. Couples argued in the middle of crowded thoroughfares while friends met up in the entryway of shops. In some alleyways children played games while other unscrupulous people conducted illegal business right out in broad daylight.

"Aren't they worried about getting caught by the Dai Li?" Katara asked as she watched one man selling jewelry that he had on display on the inside of the vest he was wearing.

"Not really. What ever dealings their doing they figure is well worth the risk besides they've got lookouts all over the city." Satoru explained. "In Ba Sing Se you make it by hook or by crook."

Every village, town, and city had its own feel it's own energy that made it unique to any other place in the world. Ba Sing Se gave off the same energy as a rapidly flowing river. The city was constantly moving and changing carrying anyone and anything along in it's stream to be a part of something bigger. People from different walks of life all lived their lives right in streets that were so congested that you couldn't walk two feet without brushing up against someone. The voices of the vendors screaming about their wares rose above the chatter of the general population. All of the voices speaking simultaneously sounded like the buzzing from the inside of a hive of buzzard wasps. The Lower Ring wasn't just an experience for Katara's eyes it was also an experience for her olfactory system, but in this case it was one experience Katara wished that her olfactory system didn't have to have. The Lower Ring's scent; if you could call it that was a nauseating mixture of everything all at once. Food, animals and their waste mixed with unwashed bodies, and if that smell alone wasn't enough to make her gag, the flowers and the fresh and rotten produce mixed with the spices, scented oils, and fish stalls was.

"We're almost there." Satoru said.

Thank the Spirits Katara thought, and then felt immediately guilty for thinking that way. She certainly had no right from her place of privilege to judge the city from what she saw within a fifteen minute walk. And it certainly didn't give her the right to judge everyone within it's walls. Not everyone in the Lower Ring was a criminal and not everyone who lived here wanted to live this way, but thinking that still didn't make her feel safe and she wouldn't until they left.

"Here we are."

They had stopped at a small brick house. A thin mean looking dog in the alley between houses stopped eating from a bag of garbage that it had tore open and barked at their small group. Satoru rapped on the door with his knuckles.

A few seconds later a tall young man with glasses answered. "Hey, Satoru what are you doing here?"

"Hello, Maliq mind if my friends and I come in?"

"Not at all. Any friend of Satoru's is a friend of mines."

The group stepped into the house.

"Sorry to show up unannounced, but Prince Zuko and Princess Katara are here on business of sorts."

"Oh, wow. To what do we owe this privilege?"

"Is Toph here? We need to speak with her." Zuko demanded.

"Er, she isn't here." Maliq said.

"What do you mean she isn't here." Zuko snapped.

"She had something dodgy to take care of. I tried to stop her from going, but you can't stop Toph once she sets her mind to do something."

"Maliq, stop being rude! Offer the Prince and Princess a seat." A young woman with short reddish-brown hair called out from the galley style kitchen. "I'm honored to meet both of you, but especially you princess Katara, I'm Malina, Maliq's twin sister." She came out of the kitchen and bowed deeply."I was just fixing dinner it would be an honor to have the two of you join us."

Katara recognized the dress that Malina wore at once. It was made popular by the late princess Yue and a favorite among women of the Northern water tribe.

"They're from the Northern water tribe!" Katara spun around to face Satoru. "Why would you bring me to the home of anyone from the Northern water tribe?" Without another word she headed straight for the front door and yanked it open. She wasn't going to spend another minute in this house. She didn't care if they knew where Toph was or not.

"Princess please wait!" Malina cried out. "Yes, we are from the North but please don't hold that against us. Not everyone from the Northern water tribe agrees with Chief Pakku or supports the war. Anyway my brother and I might be Northern water tribe, but We've spent far more time in the Earth Kingdom than we have the North. We're students of Ba Sing Se university majoring in Engineering and I'm minoring in history." Malina explained.

Katara paused on the first step of the front porch. Malina was right it wasn't fair of her to judge them after all she was going to be a Fire Lady, and if she could give the Fire Nation a second chance surely she could extend the same to people from her sister tribe. She turned around and stepped back into the house.

"I'm sorry for storming out. It's nice to meet you too." Katara said. "Thank you for inviting us to dinner we'd love to stay."

Though the house wasn't grandiose inside or out as the Beifong Estate she couldn't help but fall in love with it. The walls were covered with pictures of family. The furniture was water tribe. In the corner a whatnot shelf proudly displayed all too familiar water vases and tribal figurines. Handwoven rugs covered the old warped floorboards. The house had the charm of looking lived in and loved. It was a homey look she was used to. She felt the ache of homesickness down to her bones.

"Do you have any idea where Toph might have gone?" Zuko asked Maliq.

"To shake down the dumb asses, Toph's words not mine, who took her father's metal. So I guess back to Gaoling."

Zuko swore under his breath. "Well this has been an utter waste of time."

"We can send a messenger hawk to Li Na and Suki to be on the lookout for Toph." Katara reasoned.

"Only one problem does Suki even know what Toph looks like?" Zuko asked.

Suki had stayed behind to check out the outrigger factory with Aimi since Satoru was no longer going, and Zuko feared that the more people that showed up looking for Toph the harder it would be for him to convince her to come back home.

"I can take care of that. Send her this." Maliq slapped a wanted poster into Zuko's chest.

"_Wanted:The Blind Bandit known confidence trickster at large. Extremely dangerous proceed with caution_, what in the hell?"

Katara looked at the poster. There was a drawing of Toph that at least gave Katara a rough idea of what she looked like. Under the drawing of her it listed all of the crimes she'd committed; there were a lot of crimes listed.

The noises of Malina preparing dinner in the kitchen came to an abrupt halt. "Yes, Maliq what in the hell is going on? Since when is Toph a confidence trickster?"

"Since the carnivals started coming to town."

"Don't tell me all those times you went to those carnivals with Toph you were acting as a shill in her schemes."

"I wasn't involved and anyway Toph only cheated cheaters."

"So that makes it all right?" Malina slammed a dish down and slopped some kind of broth onto the counter.

"It at least makes it less wrong."

"Whatever. Stop distracting me I need to finish getting dinner ready."

"Hopefully that will be any minute now." Zuko's eyes looked pointedly up at the clock on the wall.

"So, how did Toph end up living with the two of you?" Katara asked.

Satoru and Maliq began laughing.

"Toph and I used to steal food from the diner where Maliq works. He always tried to catch us in the act but we we're too sneaky;then one day we got careless and he caught us. He told us we could either pay for our food or fight him and earn our dinner."

"Toph took you up on that challenge didn't she?" The corner of Zuko's mouth turned up into a half smile.

"How was I supposed to know that a little blind girl could earthbend so well?"

"Wait, if you thought she was a little blind girl why would you challenge her in the first place?" Katara asked.

"Don't ask my brother a logical question." Malina said. "You won't get a logical answer."

Maliq shook his head. "She knew every move I was going to make before I even made it. I never saw anything like it in my life."

"After Toph beat him he offered us free lunch everyday and a place to sleep at night."

"That was nice. I'm sure Toph's parents will be happy to know she hasn't been sleeping out on the street every night. I know I am and I don't even know her." The more people talked about Toph the more Katara wanted to meet her. She seemed larger than life and she wondered if the real life version of her could live up to the caricature everyone else had painted of Toph in her mind.

Zuko wasn't interested in old anecdotes about Toph. His legs bounced up and down and he drummed his fingers on the arm of the love seat. It seems there was no cure for his irritated mood. It was going to be a loooong day. Zuko's restless energy was making Katara feel agitated, so while he tried to stomp a hole into the floorboards she got up from her seat and away from him. She walked over to the opposite side of the room were all of the family pictures were displayed. In the middle of the wall was a picture of whom Katara presumed to be Maliq and Malina's grandparents. The portrait was taken on their wedding day. The woman in the aged sepia picture was wearing a wedding dress that was similar to the one her own Gran-gran had worn on her wedding day.

"Is this wedding picture of your grandparents?" She asked.

"Yes. Our grandmother Yugoda and grandfather, Kiviaq, are both alive and still living in the North." Malina called out from the kitchen.

"Your grandmother and grandfather make a beautiful couple."

"Thank you."

Katara wondered how long Yugoda and Kiviaq had been married to each other. If her grandfather hadn't of been killed in the war he and her Gran-gran would still be married. The same with her parents. If her mother had not been murdered she'd still be married to her father. She looked back at her husband. He'd stopped drumming his fingers on the armrest but his legs were still bouncing up and down and she wondered why he didn't get up and come look at the pictures with her. With a family like his drowning your sorrows in nostalgia was probably not therapeutic in the way it was for her. She crossed the room and sat back down next to him and rested her hand on one of his bouncing knees. He'd been in a bad mood ever since they had to detour their trip from Gaoling to Ba Sing Se. She wasn't happy about it either, but for him it seemed personal .

Zuko leaned over and whispered in Katara's ear. "Why are we wasting time with these two when we need to be looking for Toph and Lao's metal."

"You said a little diplomacy goes a long way. This is us being diplomatic." Katara whispered back. "These two don't have much, but they've gone out of their way to accommodate us. The least we could do is stay and have dinner, and it will show that as the future Fire Lord you're invested in people outside of your status and own culture."

"Fine we'll stay, but the minute this dinner is over we're going back to Gaoling."

"I'm sure dinner is almost done. Can't you smell it cooking?"

Zuko sniffed the air. "Is that Gaipan old duck soup I smell?"

"It most certainly is."

"I love Gaipan old duck soup."

"I know." Malina said. "I also made fish balls for you Princess Katara. I know how much you like them."

"Know-it-all." Maliq coughed-spoke.

Malina rolled her eyes. "Oh I'm a know-it-all? Meanwhile minoring in history got me a job at a museum as a water tribe historical guide, and you work as a waiter at that grease ball diner." She turned away from her brother and faced Katara. "Our grandmother is a fervent historian especially water tribe history. She knows everything there is to know about the history of both tribes, she's the one that got me interested in studying history in the first place."

Katara smiled. "That's nice. I'm close with my Gran-gran too."

"Maliq don't just sit there come and set the table." Malina ordered.

"Just because your five minutes older than me doesn't make you the boss of me." Maliq said.

"I know it's the fact that I'm smarter than you that makes me the boss. Now shut up and set the table."

Maliq grumbled under his breath but set the table anyway.

"Dinner is ready everyone let's sit down and eat."

The dining room table wasn't very big but everyone managed to fit around it Katara was sat across from Maliq.

"You will remember your manners won't you?" Malina asked. "Don't chew with your mouth open or spit your bones out on the plate."

"Yes, mother dear."

Katara laughed. The dynamic between Malina and Maliq reminded her of the one between her and Sokka."It's been awhile since I've been back home, but being here with the two of you reminds me of my own family." Katara said.

"So I guess some of the ways of the North stuck with Kanna after all." Maliq said.

"What? How do you know my grandmother's name?" Katara wanted to know.

"She's from the North." Maliq said.

Katara put her fork down on her plate. "Oh, no. I'm sorry you must be confused both of my grandparents are from the Southern water tribe."

"Sorry, but you're the one that's confused. Not me."

All eyes at the dinner table shifted to Katara.

"I'm not confused. My grandmother isn't from the Northern water tribe."

"I'm afraid my brother is right. She is. She was best friends with our grandmother and she told us all about Kanna."

Katara shook her head. "That can't be true. If she was from the North why wouldn't she tell me?"

"I'm not sure but my guess would be that maybe she didn't want you to know she was a runaway bride."

"Runaway bride?"

"Yes. At age sixteen your grandmother was in an arranged marriage with chief Olayuk's son, Pakku, but instead of getting married to him she ran away to the Southern water tribe. I'm sorry I thought you knew."

Once when Katara was a child she'd been fishing with her father and Sokka and fell out of the canoe right into the freezing cold waters of the Hanyewi. The cold had been such a shock to her nervous system that she felt like everything within her body began shutting down all at once. Even waterbending seemed to be beyond her capabilities in that moment of initial shock. The moment the words left Malina's lips Katara had that same feeling.

"Are you OK?" Zuko whispered.

No she wasn't. She had to travel halfway around the world to find out that her Gran-gran was from the Northern water tribe, and not only that but she had been in an arranged marriage to Pakku. Her life was spiraling out of control faster than she could live it. As soon as she tried to solve one problem another one popped up. Bato's death was still fresh on her mind and now this. Wasn't she allowed to slow down or breathe?

She and her Gran-gran talked about everything; was being a runaway bride such a bad thing that she had to keep it some big secret? If someone like Malina knew did that mean her father knew as well? He had to have known, but he'd kept it a secret from ? She didn't know how she was staying composed when she wanted to fly apart. Having so many questions with no one to answer them made her want to scream. She wanted to flip everything off of the dinner table and break all of the dishes. She was tired of being the dutiful daughter. If her Gran-gran didn't have to marry the man she'd been arranged to marry then why did she have to? Why did her Gran-gran get to marry for love and not her?

"I think we should be going now." Zuko said. He tossed his napkin down on the table and got up from his seat.

"My brother and his big mouth. We are so so sorry." Malina said. "I hope you're not upset with us."

"No It's fine really, it wasn't, but my husband is right we really need to be going. Thanks so much for dinner." She had to get out of that house before she fell apart. Once they stepped outside Katara took in a deep breath of the rancid air of the Lower Ring.

"Every family has secrets." Zuko said. "Mines has as many secrets as there are grains of sand in the Si Wong Desert."

"Katara can I talk to you for a second?" Malina asked from the doorway of her house. "I know you said everything was fine, but I know that it's not. I also know that we can't make up for what was said, but we would like to offer you some help."

"Really it's not necessary."

"I think you might want to take us up on this offer." Malina stepped aside and her brother Maliq stood beside her. "I know someone who can help you find Toph."

"Who?"

"My ex-girlfriend. Her name's June and she can find anyone anywhere in the world."

"That's great, Zuko cocked his head to the side, why did you wait until now to tell us about this miracle worker ex of yours?"

"Does it matter? He's helping us now." Katara countered.

"She's hanging out at the Rabid Wolfbat, it's a bar at the end of the street if you want her help."

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. "Why would your ex help you let alone help us?"

"We broke up amicably and she owes me a favor."

"Whatever, take us to her." Zuko ordered.

Maliq lead the way. Katara reached for Zuko's hand but he ignored her. She sighed she didn't know what his problem was but she was sick and tired of him acting like a jerk. If something was bothering him why couldn't he just tell her what it was instead of bottling it up and blowing up at everyone? Well if he thought he could keep treating her this way he was wrong. In fact he was two seconds from getting a piece of her mind diplomacy be damned.

Zuko didn't have to ask which building was the Rabid Wolfbat. It was easy to spot. It was the building a drunken man was peeing on the outside of, and as they made their way to the entrance a patron was flung out of it's open doors.

They entered the bar and were assailed by the smell of beer, smoke, and vomit. "Nice place." Zuko said as he lifted his booted foot off of the sticky barroom floor. "I can practically smell the STDs."

Maliq shrugged. "It's where June gets most of her clients."

The group made their way towards the back of the crowded bar until they came upon a table with a single occupant. Her feet were up on the table as she drank a glass of whiskey.

"Maliq, what are you doing here babe, and why are you with these two?"

"They need you to find someone for them."

"They got money?" June asked.

"More than you'll ever have." Zuko replied. "We're looking for a friend of mines and your ex-boyfriend says you can find anyone anywhere in the world."

"That's one of the few things he's right about. Give me twenty thousand gold pieces and something that belonged to your friend and I'll find them."

"You get half now and the other half when you prove to me that you can actually do your job and find my friend."

"Wow, prince charming how can I refuse with an offer like that." June swung her legs off of the table and downed the rest of her whiskey. "So are we doing this are not? I don't have all day to waste."

Zuko was aware of Katara's eyes boring a hole into the back of his head. He couldn't see the look on her face but if he were to turn around and see it he'd drop dead on the spot. He wanted to tell her why he was in such a bad mood but he couldn't. She didn't know it was nearing the anniversary of his banishment. It happened five years ago but it still hurt and that made him angry. He should be over it by now. In the battle between him and his father he had triumphed. He was the future Fire Lord and his father was nothing but a disgrace left to rot in prison. No longer the Fire Lord to his country his father was a tiger without teeth or claws, but even without the teeth and the claws he still found a way to hurt him and why he still let his father rent space in his head was beyond him.

"We're doing this." Katara said and shook hands with June to seal the deal. "We'll have to go back to Maliq's house to get something of Toph's first."

"I'll order a carriage." Zuko said. It wasn't long before the carriage came and as the group made their way over to their ride Katara walked ahead of everyone else, but more noticeably walked well ahead of him. She got into the carriage and didn't even bother to look at him when he sat down beside her. If he told her about why he was so moody she'd probably understand. In fact he knew that she would, and she would do all that she could to ease the burden he'd been carrying for so long, but she had just found out about her grandmother, and was still dealing with the loss of Bato, to expect her to pick him up over a five year old incident felt selfish and weak.

"If you have something that your friend touched recently or often it would make this process go a lot faster." June informed them.

"I know just the thing." Maliq said, and as the carriage slowed down in front of his house he jumped out and disappeared inside.

"What's taking him so long?" Zuko asked after a few minutes. "We don't have all day to just sit around and wait." The sooner they got out of Ba Sing Se the better he would feel.

"I got it!" Maliq called as he came back out of his house with Toph's wanted poster. "She touched this a lot even though she couldn't read it. It was a treasured item for her."

"Took you long enough."

"Sorry your royal highness I didn't realize I was on your payroll."

"Play nice boys." June said in stepped in between the two men.

"What's wrong with you, Zuko?" Katara asked.

"Nothing. I just want to get going."

The group filed back into the carriage. Zuko sat next to Katara who still wasn't speaking to him, not that he could blame her, but that didn't stop her from giving him several concerned glances when she thought he couldn't see her.

June's place was in the middle ring which came as a shock to Zuko. She didn't look like someone who would enjoy life in the middle ring. It was harder to break the rules the higher up you lived on the food chain. Then again Maliq said she picked up most of her clients at that dive bar back in the lower ring.

"This is my place."

Her home was a nice size with a huge back yard that housed a creature that Zuko had never seen before in his life. It was brown with a black stripe down it's back. It had a long snout with a pink starburst shaped nose at the end. It's tail was huge as were it's claws which looked perfect for eviscerating someone. The beast whatever it was must not have liked anyone staring because it opened it's mouth to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth. Not satisfied with just bearing it's fangs the hideous beast shot out a whip like tongue and unfurled it past his face narrowly hitting him.

"Hey! Control that damn thing!" He shouted as he jumped out of harm's way.

"She's not a thing. Her name is Nyla, my shirshu."

"Whatever." Zuko said and handed the wanted poster to June. "This is something Toph handled quite a bit. Apparently she was very proud of it."

June snatched the wanted poster from Zuko. "Yeah, I know. I was in the carriage when Maliq told us about it prince pouty."

"Satoru can you head back to Gaoling and let them know we may have located the stolen metal. If we're not back by the day's end assume we're in trouble."

"Of course prince Zuko."

June held Toph's wanted poster under Nyla's nose. The shirshu sniffed and then stood upright and alert. "Get on or get left behind." She ordered.

Zuko had barely gotten Katara securely situated on the back of Nyla before June took off. The shirshu was much faster than he expected it to be. If Nyla was able to maintain her speed they would find Toph in no time at all; finally things were starting to look up. Maybe he could even convince Toph to go home and see her parents after she helped them break into the underwater base, and then he and Katara could finally go to the South Pole and get away from the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation for a little while.

Katara wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she grew use to the pace Nyla was setting and the sound of her large paws slapping against the ground. The motion of the shirshu and the sound from her paws was actually soothing and made it surprisingly easy to think, and she'd been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking back to the day she had overheard her grandfather and Gran-gran talking about why Pakku had wanted his son to marry her.

"Even without Aunt Wu's prediction the Fire Nation would have found out about Katara, and eventually so would Pakku."

How? She wondered. How would the Fire Nation or Pakku have found out that she was a powerful bender if no one had made a prediction? It's true that her waterbending teacher had said that she was a prodigy, and she'd bested every bender she'd come up against in her classes, but beyond that how would anyone outside of the South Pole have heard of her power? Did her Gran-gran know something more than her father? Why had she run away from her marriage to Pakku? Why did she never talk about the North Pole? What was it she was trying to hide? Had her Gran-gran known even before her own parents that a powerful bender would be born into her bloodline? Katara had to know. She couldn't stand all of the unanswered questions. After they visited with the Earth King she was going to go back to the South Pole and ask her Gran-gran to tell her the truth about everything.

Katara probably would have went on trapped in her own thoughts had she not broken out in a sweat. The weather had not changed but it became noticeably warmer, and then something orange flashed in the corner of her eyes. She looked up with the realization that she hadn't been paying attention to where they were going. Flames spread out around the ground encircling Nyla and cutting off their path. The circle of flames grew higher and higher. In a panic Nyla reared up on her hind legs standing up perfectly vertical. Katara felt herself slipping off the shirshu's back and free falling towards the earth. She screamed out loud as she fell then hit the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of her momentarily when her breath came back to her she rolled out of the way before Nyla came crashing down on top of her. Looking up from her prone position she saw she was surrounded by a group of men all of whom were riding on the back of komodo rhinos. The men jumped down from the rhinos and drew their weapons each of them was wielding a different one. Katara stood and began to draw water from her pouch. The men moved faster than she could have anticipated and one got off his bolo whip it wrapped around her feet and she fell down hard.

"Katara are you OK?" Zuko's voice called out somewhere from behind her.

"So far." She called back. "How about you June?"

"They've got me netted like so many fish."

She tried for her flask again but before she could even draw a drop of water two arrows pinned her sleeves to the ground and then a net was thrown over top of her. The harder she fought to get out of the net the more she ended up tangled in it and finally she had to give up.

"Ogodei, don't let that shirshu's tongue touch you or you'll be paralyzed temporarily. One of the men said.

"I hadn't planned on it."

"Good then let's collect this vermin and be on our way."

"Where are you taking us." Zuko demanded. He'd been caught up in one of the rough rhino's net and now was being dragged across the dirt like a trapped harbor seal.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Another one of the rough rhinos said and reached down and punched him square in the face.

* * *

Zuko opened his eyes and groaned. He had a head splitting sense of déjà vu. Once again he'd gotten kidnapped and his ass kicked. He touched his throbbing lip and discovered it had been busted open and it was bleeding freely. He closed his eyes again trying to gain his bearings. "Katara!" He called suddenly remembering that they'd been traveling back to Gaoling in search of Toph when they'd been ambushed by the rough rhinos.

"I'm here Zuko and I'm all right."

"I'm all right too. Thanks for asking." June said drolly.

"Well now that I know everyone is all right does anyone know where we are?" Zuko asked.

"We're back in the underwater base." Katara informed him.

Zuko stood up and looked around. When he looked in front of him or behind him the metal tunnel was all that he could see it went on and on with no ending in sight. "It doesn't make sense why would the rough rhinos bring us here?"

"Who?" Katara asked.

"Those assorted freaks who attacked us." June answered.

"They're Fire Nation mercenaries;muscle for hire to the highest bidder." Zuko added.

"So someone from the Northern water tribe could have hired them." Katara pointed out. "Last time we were here Ensign Pakak talked about taking me back to the North and forcing me to marry Hahn so that I could give the North a powerful heir. Maybe this is them trying again."

"If first you don't succeed." June sang.

"I think you're right and it's all my fault." Zuko said.

"What? How could any of this be your fault?"

"My mom was chosen to marry my father because of the prophecy."

"What prophecy?"

"The one that states marrying a royal descendant of Roku would result in creating powerful benders within my grandfather's bloodline, and when it comes to my sister it's most certainly the case."

"It's the case with you as well, but I still don't get how any of that makes all of this your fault." Katara said.

"I do." June put her hands on her hips. "The North is scared that a powerful firebender marrying a powerful waterbender will create a new line of super powerful benders that none of the other nations will be able to stop."

"The Northern Water Tribe can't be the only nation that fears that history might repeat itself. I think it's time to put our theory about the stolen metal to the test." Zuko bent out a flame and began to pass it over the metal. As the flame passed over the metal the words etched into it slowly became more and more legible. "Property of the Earthen Fire Refinery's Qiáng Tiě branch." Zuko read out loud.

"We were right Zuko it was stolen from Lao."

"It's all the proof we need to convince King Kuei to form the united peace council."

"And one step closer to getting Arnook back on to the throne."

"Did you hear that?" Zuko asked.

"Hear what?" June asked.

"That scraping noise."

"I hear it too. Katara said. "What is it?"

"I don't know but let's not stick around to find out."

The threesome turned towards the tunnel's entrance when the loud groan of metal grinding on metal grew even louder and then everything around them started shaking violently.

"The entire base is collapsing Katara, June get down!" Zuko threw Katara down to the floor and then covered her body with his acting as a human shield. He waited for the metal to come crashing down on his head knowing he wouldn't survive, but hoping against hope that Katara would.

The bone crushing weight of collapsing metal he'd been expecting never came. After a few agonizing minutes he hazard to lift his head and see what was going on.

"You can get up now dumbasses. The sky isn't falling."

"Toph!" Zuko cried out. "What are you doing here?"

"I tracked the metal thieves here. What are you doing?"

"Same thing or we would have if we didn't get ambushed."

"Never send a firebender to do an earthbender's job."

Zuko quickly got to his feet then helped Katara to stand.

"Nice to finally meet you." Katara said as she pushed her hair out of her eye.

"Next time try not to get kidnapped, sweetness."

"My name is Katara."

Toph shrugged. "Whatever."

Katara couldn't believe it this was Toph? She was completely rude.

"So how come we didn't drown when little miss wild child tore a hole in the roof?" June asked.

"Why would we drown? I tunneled through rock to get down here."

Katara stared nonplussed at Toph a moment before speaking. "Rock?"

"Yeah, rock. This place is surrounded by rock. How else do you think I got in here?"

"This can't be the underwater base we were taken to then." Zuko said. "It was surrounded by nothing but water."

"I don't know where the two of you think we are, but right now we're near Whaletail island."

"Whaletail island!"

"Yeah. I tunneled underneath of an old communication tower to get down here."

"How did you manage to get from Ba Sing Se to Whaletail island?" Zuko wanted to know.

"I know the right people in high places who know the wrong people in low places."

"This isn't a coincidence that we were brought here. These two underwater bases are connected." Katara reasoned.

"You're right, but right now we need to leave before whoever brought us hear comes back. We can figure out the connection when we get back to Lao's."

"Speak for yourself prince permanently perturbed." June said. "I need to find Nyla."

"You don't think the rough rhinos hurt her do you?" Katara asked.

"Not a chance. My girl can hold her own. More than likely she ran back home, and don't forget you owe me twenty thousand gold pieces."

"What, but you didn't even find Toph. She found us."

"Potato. Potahto, I did my job and I expect to be paid for it."

"You will." Katara assured her.

"Fine. Zuko dismissed June with a wave of his hand and turned to Toph. "We're going back to your parents place are you coming with us?"

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

* * *

"You don't have to go in until you're ready." Zuko told Toph and placed his hand on her shoulder. After escaping from the Whaletail island underwater base the group had gone straight back to Gaoling. Toph had been standing at the entrance of her home for the better part of ten minutes.

"I've run away from home twice. My parents must think I hate them."

"Your parents miss you the only thing they want is to see you and know you're all right." Katara said.

"You really think so?"

"I do. No matter what you do a parent's love never goes away."

Katara obviously didn't know his father. If she did then she'd know that some parents love was like a switch that could be turned on or off if they ever loved you at all.

"I'll never be ready so I might as well get this over with." Toph said with a sigh.

Zuko followed Toph into her home. She moved as if she was walking to her own execution.

"Toph! My sweet little baby." Mrs. Beifong called out when she saw her only daughter walk through the front door. She walked swiftly to her daughter and wrapped her up in a warm hug. Tears streamed down her eyes. "You're back home oh the Spirits be thanked!"

Zuko turned to watch his wife watching the reunion. She was wiping tears from her eyes between that and the happy reunion he felt some of the resentment he'd been carrying around melt. Having grown up in the dysfunctional family to end all dysfunctional families it actually made him happy to see other families happy.

"I'm sorry for running away again."

"I blame myself. Your father and I never should have sent those men to bring you back home. We should have known you'd want to come back home on your own."

"I did want to come back home, but I was afraid that if I did you'd only try and keep me here."

"We don't want you to feel like you're trapped, but Toph the streets aren't safe you could be hurt."

"I can take care of myself. I found out who was stealing dad's metal all on my own."

"Speaking of Lao where is he? We have some pressing business to take care of."

"Of course your highness. He's in his office he's waiting to speak to all of you."

"I'm sorry to take your daughter away from you Poppy, but I promise I'll return her as soon as I'm done with the meeting."

Toph kicked Zuko's ankle.

"Ow, what did you do that for?" He asked as they made their way down the hallway to her father's office.

"I'll return her? What am I a package?"

"I didn't want to upset your mother."

"I ran away twice she's already upset, but she's too much of a noblewoman to make anymore of a scene than she already has."

"Well one reunion down and one to go." Zuko said.

"Open the door and shove me hard before I have a chance to change my mind." Toph quipped.

"It won't be that bad." Katara reassured her.

"Whatever you say sunshine."

"My name is Katara!"

The members of the S.S.S Gaoling were all in the office along with Satoru.

"Good to see you're all here. So no one ran into any trouble?" Zuko asked.

"No, but we were getting worried about you though." Satoru replied.

Lao did not get up to hug his daughter but Zuko noticed the softening in his eyes and the way his tense shoulders relaxed.

"Toph I see you've come back home."

"You and everyone else but me."

Zuko choked back his laughter.

"I hope it's for good this time."

"I found out who was stealing your metal, dad." Toph said and laid the piece of metal on the table.

"Where did you get this from?"

"The underwater base near Whaletail island where I rescued Zuko and Katara after they'd been captured by the rough rhinos." Toph pulled back a seat, leaned back in it, and propped her dirty feet up on the table.

"Whaletail island? That's nowhere near where we found you." Li Na said. "So there's more than one base?"

Zuko nodded. "Whoever's doing this must have a lot of help. This is a full scale operation and it didn't happen overnight."

Suki shook her head. "I don't understand how all of this could have gone on without anyone knowing."

"Someone pretty high up on the political ladder must be behind all of this." Lao said.

"I think that it's more than one person with political influence making this happen." Katara said. "Zuko and I were talking and we think this might have to do with the fact that our future children will be coming from the bloodline of two powerful benders."

Li Na looked from Katara then to Zuko. "So what, you think someone wants to kill you to end your bloodline?"

"It's only me they want to kill." Zuko said. "Katara was to marry Hahn in order to ensure that the North is the one with the powerful bloodline."

"That's so barbaric! If they were going to force Katara into marriage that means Hahn was going to-."

Katara interrupted Aimi. "You don't have to say. I think we all know what Hahn planned on doing."

Zuko's jaw clenched. He had never met Hahn before but if they ever did meet he would make sure Hahn knew the full strength of his firebending abilities. It was inconceivable to him that anyone would think they were owed autonomy over another person. It was the exact same way his father thought. No one was allowed to be their own person they were merely extensions of him.

"As disturbing as that all is can we get back to who actually stole the metal or at least who had a hand in stealing it." Toph said.

"Sorry, darling. Tell us what you found out." Lao said.

"It was Xin Fu."

"That Earth Rumble guy?" Aimi asked.

"That would be the one." Toph said and though she was blind she still managed to turn toward her father and stare him down. "The man you hired to tail me while I was in Ba Sing Se."

"Toph I-."

Toph held her hand out to quiet her father. "No, you need to hear this. When I questioned the rough rhinos they told me that they'd been hired by Xin Fu."

"How do you know they were telling you the truth?" Katara wanted to know.

"Her earthbending abilities make her a human lie detector, Zuko explained, what I want to know is how you got them to talk?"

Toph grinned wickedly and cracked her knuckles. "Me and a few friends of mines persuaded them to open up."

Satoru shook his head. "This is getting more confusing and not less. Why did Xin Fu hire the rough rhinos?"

"To haul the stolen metal. I'm guessing that while he tailed us he listened in on our conversations and figured out when the deliveries were being made to the Qiáng Tiě refinery, and hired the rough rhinos to steal the metal. They've been using their rhinos to transport the metal to Northern benders who use eel hounds to get the metal underwater."

Lao sighed. "I should have never hired Xin Fu, but I was afraid if I tried to make you come home you'd run away and never come back. I only wanted to make sure you were all right, so I ordered Xin Fu to keep a tail on you and send reports of your wellbeing back to me."

"This goes deeper than I could ever imagine." Zuko said. "So who hired Xin Fu? There's no way he came up with this plan all on his own."

"My friends and I were on our way to track him down and question him until I ran into the two of you."

"Who are these friends you keep talking about?" Satoru asked. "Do I know them?"

"No. Just a little group of freedom fighters I befriended. They're trying to find Xin Fu as we speak."

"Did anyone else find out anything that might be helpful?" Katara asked.

"It took Aimi and I awhile, but we eventually got someone in the outrigger factory to talk to us. There was a huge order for outriggers. The order was placed by, Suki dug in her pocket and pulled out an order form and read from it, Admiral Gee."

"What!" Zuko shoved his chair back and stood up. "I can't believe he's involved in this."

"I'm sorry Zuko." Suki said and handed him the form. "Here's the paperwork."

Zuko's hand shook and then started to smoke as he read the paper.

Katara took the paper from Zuko before he ended up setting it on fire. "Maybe we should talk to him first and figure out what's going on."

"What's to figure out? He betrayed me just like everyone else in my life has done." He punched Lao's table and left a scorch mark on the surface.

"Calm down. You don't know anything yet, we'll find Admiral Gee and talk to him together."

"What about the Earth King?" Li Na asked. "I thought you two were going to talk to him."

"There's nothing conclusive about these metal thefts yet, and there's no point in paying him a visit until there is." Katara said.

"My wife is right. The two of us should head back to the South Pole. Toph you try and find Xin Fu and the rest of you keep your ears and eyes open and figure out anything you can. After we find out what's happening with Admiral Gee we'll meet back here with all of you."

"If you need cold weather clothes I can provide you with them and anything else. Just tell me what you need." Lao offered.

"Thank you Lao I won't forget this. The first thing we'll need is a messenger hawk to send to my uncle."

"How do you two plan on getting to the South Pole? It's quite a trip from here."

"I'll ask my uncle to send one of the smaller airships to take us."

After sending out the messenger hawk to Iroh Zuko went with Katara and watched her pick out winter gear from one of the Beifong's huge walk in wardrobes. He hadn't realized that they would need so much, but he trusted her expertise.

"I can't believe I'm finally going home it feels like it has been ages since I've seen my family."

"What are you going to say to your Gran-gran?"

"I'm not sure. there is so much to talk about maybe I shouldn't say anything at all."

"You have a right to know. Family secrets just make everything worse. Trust me."

"Is that why you've been in such a bad mood lately? Something to do with your family?"

"Yeah, something like that, but I'll be OK. Besides we've got more important things to worry about."

Katara held out a pair of boots. "Here, see if these will fit you."

He took off his own boots which he realized were not ideal for walking on snow and ice and tugged on the fur lined boots.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know. I just can't, he shook his head, I can't."

"OK but you can't keep bottling things up and snapping at everyone."

"I want to tell you, and I will. Just not right now." He refused to take advantage of his wife's compassionate nature. She might have been willing to put herself out there to try and fix his problems but that didn't mean he had to let her. He still felt guilty for all of the problems that his family had caused for her and her people. He owed it to her to help her solve her problems before he went piling his own on top.

"They fit."

"This coat should fit you too it's not nearly heavy enough, but we can get you a new one when we get to the South Pole."

He shrugged into the coat and flexed. It didn't feel tight and the sleeves came all the way down to his hands. He started to button up the coat it skimmed the top of his knees so there were a lot of buttons to work.

"Let me help you." Katara said. "You're done up all wrong." She stepped up to him and began to undo the buttons and started buttoning his coat all over again this time getting the ones he had missed.

"I don't need a thicker coat. You should save those for the people who really need them. I can keep myself warm."

Katara stopped buttoning his coat and looked up into his eyes. "Oh, right I should have known. You're always so warm." She began to slowly unbutton his coat he watched hypnotized by how small and nimble her fingers were. Fingers that were undressing him.

"You like my heat." Zuko said and stepped closer to her. The words came out a lot more seductive sounding than they had in his head. The room suddenly felt charged with a palpable electric anticipation.

Katara looked up into his eyes. "I do."

He felt as if a spark had been shot straight into his heart. Through half lidded eyes he stared at Katara's face. She was so beautiful that sometimes he still couldn't believe that he was married to her. Their faces moved closer to each other's until his lips were on her's. He rested his lips on hers for a moment taking in her breath and relishing how her soft full lips reminded him of ripe fruit. He had to taste them. He gave into the moment. Gave into his feelings and slowly kissed her. The taste of her was addictive the more that he kissed her the more that he wanted her. All of her. The spark that had been shot in to his heart traveled through his whole body. Every nerve he had was humming; was tingling with the thrill of being this close to Katara and feeling her lips on his.

His hand buried themselves into her hair. He didn't know how this got started but he prayed to the Spirits that it didn't have to end. Katara was clutching on to his coat as if it was the only thing keeping her standing upright. She pulled him closer into her body and stood on her tiptoes to get better access to his mouth. Zuko groaned and worked Katara's mouth open a little wider and her kisses deepened. When he felt her tongue swirl into his mouth he thought he might die from the ecstasy of it all.

"Excuse me, but your airship has arrived."

Zuko pulled his mouth away from Katara's and rested his forehead against her's before turning to face Lao. "Thank you we'll finish packing and be right out." He managed to get out through ragged breaths.

"Make sure that you are."

Katara chewed on her bottom lip. "That was nice. It's the first time you've kissed me."

"I don't know what came over me. I know we're married, but I never felt like I could do that before." He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"So what changed?"

"We've been through so much and things between us could be so much worse, but you're always here. You always stick by me and I haven't had too many people I've felt like I mean anything to, but you make me feel like I belong to you. "

Katara reached up and caressed Zuko's cheek. He could be so prickly sometimes, but when he let his defenses down she saw him for who he truly was. What had his father done to him to make him feel as if he needed to hide his inner self? How much he must be hurting inside.

"We shouldn't keep the airship captain waiting."

"Right." Katara said and finished packing her bag. She hoped that Zuko wouldn't close himself off to her again; not now that she was finally starting to actually feel like his wife. After she packed the last of the bags Zuko took them from her and carried them out to the airship. It was indeed smaller than the airships that had come to invade her village when she'd been a child, but she guessed that was because it didn't need to carry a whole party of raiding soldiers.

"Will you have any trouble flying us into the South Pole?" Zuko asked the captain.

"Should be a smooth enough course."

"You're sure?"

"Yes your highness. The latest reports on the condition in the South Pole are that things are going steady as of late."

Though the airship wasn't as big as the others it still managed to have a suite for her and Zuko. Katara wasn't tired but she didn't feel like leaving the unpacking of their bags until she was, so she put their things away.

"I haven't been to either of the poles since I was a boy. I don't know what to expect."

"Expect to be amazed by how beautiful everything is, and expect to work hard for the things you take for granted everywhere else. Being born and raised in the South Pole taught me to be thankful for everything I have. Nothing comes easy in the South Pole. We fight for everything we get so we've learned not to take anything for granted."

Normally she would have mentioned how living in the South Pole made you grateful for your family, and it did, but she couldn't help but feel a little different about going home now that she knew that her Gran-gran had been keeping this huge secret from her. Her Gran-gran had not seen Pakku fit to marry but somehow she thought it was OK for her granddaughter to marry his son? There had to be a reason why. It wasn't in her Gran-gran's nature to expect her to do something that she would never do herself.

"You OK?" Zuko asked.

"Yes." Now she understood why he didn't want to tell her about the skeletons in his family's closet. It wasn't so easy rattling the bones of your family's skeletons when someone else's ears where there to hear them. There was a reason why skeletons lie buried in the closet.

"Are _you_ OK? You seem a little pale."

"I feel like I'm walking into the firing squad. I don't think there are going to be many people in your town who want to see my face."

"It will be fine Zuko. If they don't treat you right they'll have to answer to me."

"I don't want you to have to defend me. I want you to be happy to be home or as happy as you can under the circumstances."

"Well most of the time we'll be with my family and they're OK with you."

The captain announced that they were approaching the South Pole.

"We should start getting dressed we'll want to have all of our winter gear on before we step out of the airship." Katara began pulling her clothes on and was dressed in a thrice.

"How do you do that so fast?"

"Years of practice. I'll finish you up." Quickly she buttoned up his coat and laced up his boots.

"Thank you." Zuko said and kissed her.

Katara felt herself melting into her husband. His kisses made her feel like a flower opening up to the sunshine. "Promise to keep me warm?"

"Promise." He said and kissed her again.

The airship landed and Katara felt a thrill that wasn't just down to Zuko's kisses. She was home! She finally made it back home.

"Ready to show me your winter wonderland?"

She took his hand in hers. "Let's go."

They stepped off of the airship and out into the cold. Their breaths fogged out in front of them.

"It's amazing." Zuko said as he looked around the frozen landscape. "Everything seems so pristine. It's like we're in a different world."

Katara closed her eyes and pulled down the hood of her coat and turned her face up to the sky. Snowflakes fell on her face and eye lashes. She breathed in the smell of the snow and listened to the stillness. It was such a beautiful sound one that she hadn't heard in such a long time. There was a stillness and quietness to the snow you couldn't hear anywhere else in the world. Katara had missed that. She had missed how the harsh snap of the bitter cold made you feel alive. She had missed the homey feeling of home and hearth that her house provided.

"Mmm, I've missed this smell."

"What smell?"

"The smell of snow."

"Looks like someone is coming to greet us." Zuko said and pointed to a distant figure that was getting bigger and bigger as they got nearer and nearer.

"It must be my dad." Katara said and began to pull Zuko along in the snow towards the lone figure.

"Hey, slow down not all of us are experts at running in deep snow."

"Come back for my five flavor soup have you?"

"Bato?" Katara said and stopped in her tracks. "Bato?" She slowly walked up to him and reached out to touch him her hand moving slowly as if he were a wild animal and if she moved too fast or too suddenly he'd run off. Tentatively her hand made contact with his skin and he was real, warm and solid. "You're alive." She said under her breath.

"Have been for all of my life." He said.

"But they said you were-, Katara began shaking her head, I don't-." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed backwards.

Zuko jumped forward just in time and caught Katara in his arms.

"Do you mind telling me what that was all about?" Bato asked.


End file.
